Rise of the Uzumaki Clan
by firemageallanna
Summary: With the obliteration of his clan and home, Katsuro had left Konoha for revenge. But when news of Kyuubi's attack reaches him, he races back to Konoha to find that his cousin and her husband have been killed. Leaving there new born son an orphan. Unable to leave the boy, Katsuro adopts him immediately and begins the biggest mission of his life. Raising a child alone.
1. Early Days 1

**A/N- Hello all! **

**If you have just picked this story up, I highly suggest you go to my profile and read Fall of the Uzumaki Clan first. Otherwise you may be confused about certain events and people. So make sure to check it out. Otherwise, On with the Show!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto. If I did, I wouldn't be working minimum wage in the USA.**

* * *

Just off the coast of the Land of Water there was a small island and village controlled by Kirigakure. It was just a small fishing village with no shinobi what-so-ever and the people were the honest and kind type. Well, most of them were. A few merchants who traveled between the small island and Kirigakure were the more skeptical type, especially when it came to one man in particular. A man that the entire merchants guild agreed was an enemy among them.

When Uzumaki Yoshiro had first come to their little island everyone had been suspicious of him and the local law enforcement arrested the man for questioning. Unfortunately for the locals however, the man was released a few days later and allowed to go about his business. When the merchants had demanded to know why from the law enforcement, the lead investigator could only shrug and say that the shinobi investigators from Kiri told him to.

It was only a few days later when the islands inhibitors found out why. Despite being a typical Uzumaki with red hair and dark purple eyes, Uzumaki Yoshiro had no chakra. Or that was what the Kiri-nin concluded after doing a series of tests on the red-head.

What the locals didn't know however, was that Yoshiro had only been released for observation. Since arriving the red-head was always being monitored by Kiri shinobi and they were a little frustrated to find their efforts wasted. Since arriving, the red-head had simply signed onto a clamming boat as a laborer and gotten a place to sleep. And that was all they thought he did for a year.

Now with the first anniversary of the end of the Third Ninja War approaching, most of the village's occupants were enjoying a small festival like holiday. Children gathered together to play as parents exchanged small talk. Among the children however, was a young man who was playing the bad guy in ninja and allowing the kids to beat on him.

Surrounded by the children's laughter, Yoshiro couldn't really complain at the harsh and tiny punches that were being thrown at him but parents could. Calling their children away, mothers quickly swooped in to remove their children from the Uzumaki's presence as an older Kiri shinobi slowly walked up to the red-head.

The man was dressed in standard Shinobi clothes for Kiri-nin and was probably in his later fifties. Being a shinobi however, did not mean that he steps were slowed just his reaction time. Which was why he was an investigator now rather then active duty, or that's what Yoshiro assumed.

"How unusual to see an Uzumaki play so happily with children of Kirigakure." The man commented with as much distain as he could manage. Hearing the man's obvious hate for him, Yoshiro simply gave the man a radiant smile.

"Why is that unusual Sato-san?" Yoshiro asked as he watched the children be dragged away.

"Because you're an Uzumaki and they are Kiri born. Meaning they are responsible for the fall of your clan and home." The man growled as a small sadistic smile grew on his face. Sato was hoping he could make the red-head snap at him and have something to arrest the man on. Unfortunately, Yoshiro gave no sign of becoming aggressive over that comment.

"Children are innocent of the crimes committed by their parents." Yoshiro stated as he gave Sato another one of his overly bright and obviously fake smiles. Growling in anger that the man wasn't complying, Sato grabbed Yoshiro's shirt angrily.

"Listen here you brat." Sato growled as people stopped in their tracks to watch the transaction between the two. "I know it's you who's making the shinobi generals disappear in Kiri."

Yoshiro raised his arms defensively and was about to argue with the older man when someone else beat him to the punch.

"And how did he do that?" The new voice intervened. Glaring over at whoever had interrupted him, Sato mentally cursed as Suzuki Hikaru stumbled over to them.

The woman was in her mid twenties and would have been described as beautiful if she didn't spend all her time on her boat. She had light brown hair that hadn't been cut in a while and was pulled back into a ponytail with two strands of bangs that framed her face. Her eyes were a sea green and seemed to glow slightly with mirth on a tan face.

"Well?" The woman in her mid thirties demanded and she took another swig of her sake. "How do you know that my employee is the one kidnapping Kiri shinobi? The boy doesn't have any chakra! So how did he do it?"

Around them there were murmurs of agreement from Hikaru's fellow sailors as they all came to Yoshiro's rescue. Over the year, the young man had proven himself to the hard working lot and they all had accepted him as one of their own. Meaning that at times like these, when he was being accused of another disappearance, they were the first to come to his aid.

"That's right Sato!" One man shouted as he and the other sailors made their way over. Sato growled at the advancing sailors before thinking of something that could help him turn the men on the Uzumaki.

"The disappearances started when this trash washed up on your shores. Do you really think that a coincidence?" Sato asked as he kept his hold of Yoshiro's shirt.

"That boy couldn't subdue a twenty pound tuna, never mind a two hundred pound trained shinobi." Some called out in response. "Maybe you should stop harassing the boy and start investigating why these ninja are leaving Kiri."

"Besides Sato, Yoshiro was on the boat all night with Hikaru and most of the morning with me in the warehouse." Another sailor pipped in, getting more murmurs from the group.

"So you see." Hikaru began before giving a drunken hiccup. "There ain't no way Yoshiro did it."

Sato glared at the group with as much malice as he could muster before roughly releasing Yoshiro's shirt.

"I will figure out how you do this Uzumaki. And when I do I'll expose your true colors." The investigator hissed before spitting on Yoshiro and walking away.

"Ass!" Hikaru shouted at the shinobi's back before throwing her arm around her worker.

"You'd think he'd stop breathing down your neck when his daughter confessed to killing her husband last year." The woman growled as she pulled Yoshiro over to the stall she and the others had been sitting at. Following her guidance, Yoshiro sat with his friends as they started to pass around the sake again.

"It's easier to be angry at a stranger then your own child." Yoshiro stated as if this was the simplest things in the world. Scuffing at his comment, one sailor shook his head.

"Honestly boy, you sure you're sixteen? You act and think more like Ojii-san." He commented as he pointed to the eldest man in their company.

The old man scoffed as he downed another glass of alcohol before a glass was pushed into Yoshino's hand. Said glass was quickly removed however when the shop owners wife took the glass and scowled the man who had pushed the glass into the boys hand to begin with. Laughing at the man's pain, the group went back to talking about the sea and its bounties as Yoshiro ordered a quick bite.

Enjoying an order of dango with some tea, his mind drifted as a small smile formed on his face. Truth was, he was not the boy the sailors all thought he was. He was Katsuro Uzumaki, scourge of Kirigakure in the Third Ninja War.

When he had left Uzushiogakure, he knew he couldn't just waltz into Kiri and kill those responsible for his clan's demise. No, he had to be meticulous and thoughtful of how he exacted his revenge.

So, Katsuro had created the man he named Yoshiro and Henged into him before raising the level of the chakra restraint seals his father had written on him when he was a boy. It had been Uzushio tradition for two seals to be written on academy students to help prepare them for the shinobi world. One seal was drawn to simulate weights on the body and the other to suppress a portion of chakra. These seals had originally been designed to double the effectiveness of training but Katsuro was now using them to pass off as a civilian.

Sometimes his ingeniousness amazed him.

The chakra suppressor thus left such a minuet residual that all the chakra sensing tests he had gone through upon arrival had failed to pick it up.

So how then was he suppose to get his revenge if he had no chakra? Well, his chakra was just sealed and it was surprisingly easily to undo the seal in the dead of night when the ship was slowly cruising out to sea, create a few clones, and reseal himself. These clones then went out, stalked his targets, killed them bloodlessly, and sealed the bodies in scrolls that were later thrown into the ocean. Meantime, the real Katsuro remained tucked away at sea with at least two people willing to testify that he was with them rather then out avenging his clan.

The only exception had been Sato's son-in-law though. He had been the first person Katsuro had gone after but the man was a solitary type. So Katsuro's clone had transformed into his wife, killed the man as her in front of her, and used a memory altering seal to make her think that it was actually her who killed him. That however had led to an outrageous mess so Katsuro adjusted his plans to their current layout.

And thus far, this plan had yet to fail him. With every disappearance, the villagers and the Kiri shinobi grew more restless around him, as they all were sure that he was the one to cause the disappearances. But without any sort of evidence he couldn't be brought in. It was the perfect plan, he got to kill those responsible and no one could prove that it was him.

Smiling at that thought, Katsuro's mind continued to plot for his next target when one phrase broke his trail of thought.

"...Yandaime Hokage died?" A younger sailor asked. Thinking of Minato, Katsuro's head snapped up as he gave the conversation his full attention.

"The Hokage died? How did that happen?" Another sailor asked as they all leaned in to hear the news.

"According to one of the merchants who has links to the Land of Fire, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked Konohagakure and the Hokage died fighting it off." The man explained as his fellow sailors began whispering how amazing the deed was.

Katsuro meanwhile, was frozen in place. His body began to shake as he fully processed what the man had said. Minato fought against the Kyuubi and died. Which meant that Kushina was alone now.

"But that's not the best part." The man continued, his voice cutting across Katsuro's mind. "There were rumors going around that Konoha's Yellow Flash and Konoha's Red Devil were getting awfully friendly with each other and I heard that they both died in each other's arms. Isn't that something? Three monsters all killed in one go!"

At that the others began to cheer and drink to the moment before 'Yoshiro' jumped out of his seat, knocking the table as he did so. There was a shout of protest from the group as they looked up at the boy questioningly.

"Yoshiro. What's the matter?" Hikaru asked as she tried to dab some spilled sake out of her shirt, suddenly feeling very sober at her employees unusual behavior.

"Is that true?" He asked quietly.

"What true?" One man asked.

"Is Uzumaki Kushina dead?" Yoshiro demanded as his face twisted angrily. The group regarded him for a moment in confusion as some pondered why the news was upsetting him so. Others however, were getting tense and prepared themselves for a fight.

"Y-Yes." The man stuttered before watching in shock as Yoshiro turned and left the stall.

"What's his problem?" Someone asked before they slowly got back to the celebrations. Hikaru meanwhile, finished her drink and followed her charge. She had an idea what has happening but she needed to hear it from his mouth herself.

* * *

'Yoshiro' ran back to his small little shack on the islands western beach. He didn't know exactly what he was doing or why, but Kushina's death brought such a sense of fear in him that he had no choice but to obey the instinct. And that instinct was telling him to return to Konohagakure immediately.

Once out of the village he released the seal on his chakra and the henge. Taking up his true appearance, he was about to take to the trees when two Kiri-nin a few years younger then him jumped down from their hiding places and got in his way.

"I can't believe it. Sato was right." One shinobi said with a small laugh as the other glared at Katsuro. Glaring at the two, Katsuro could tell the duo were young and recently promoted Chunin. He very much doubted that the two were very experienced as their attitudes in this situation screamed inexperience.

"Uzumaki Yoshiro, you are under arrest..." One of the two began before Katsuro's laughing cut him off.

"Children. They sent children to guard one of the last Uzumaki." Katsuro lamented before pulling out two seals and showing them to the duo.

"I'm in a hurry boys so lets make this quick. By the time you wake up I will be long gone, so feel free to tell Sato that he had been right in the end." Katsuro explained as the seals began to glow. "I did kill all those men and you won't find them because the scrolls I sealed them in have all dissipated at the bottom of the sea."

With that, Katsuro threw the two seals at the Kiri-nin and watched as they both quickly jumped forward to charge at him while avoiding the seals. What the two did not expect however, was for the seals to actually be exploding tags and so when they went off, the duo found themselves behind blown right into Katsuro as he places two sleeping tags on the boys foreheads.

Taking effect instantly, the two Kiri-nin collapsed as the seals forced them into unconsciousness. Knowing the explosion would summon more ninja to his location, Katsuro quickly left the boys behind as he rushed back to his shack.

Upon arriving, he quickly packed the last of his things and unsealed the boat he had fist arrived with. Getting ready to push it out to sea, he was stopped when Hikaru appeared through the trees.

"So, this is who you really are?" She asked as she looked the boy over. Surprised to see her, Katsuro paused at look back over at the woman who gave him his footing on this island and put a semi-guarded stance.

"Don't get in my way Hikaru." he warned before the woman waved the threat off as if he were a child rather then a trained shinobi. Feeling slightly insulted by her carefree attitude, Katsuro lowered himself into a fighting stance before noticing that Hikaru had removed her necklace.

"Never did like what they did to your people." She said as she looked over the necklace and ran a thumb over it, disregarding Katsuro entirely.

"I never could forgive them for taking him from me either." She said softly before tossing the necklace at Katsuro.

Catching it, he regarded her carefully before the woman smiled and turned to leave. Shocked by her actions, he glanced down at the necklace and realized it was a pain and ordinary locket. Opening the trinket he was shocked to find a picture of Hikaru kissing a man who was obviously an Uzumaki at what looked like Uzushio's docks. Staring at the picture he briefly wondered what it meant before he was able to connect the dots.

Sighing softly, he placed the necklace around his neck before pushing his boat out to sea and starting the long journey back to Konoha.

* * *

-Two weeks later-

All was as normal as it could be in Konoha after a demon attack. The civilian population were licking their wounds and trying to restart their lives despite the heavy losses while shinobi ran about providing whatever aid they could. Even the laziest man alive, Nara Shikaku was rushing about to help out much to his wife's amazement.

At the village's gates, two newly promoted chunin relaxed as they finally got a break from the madness that had fallen over the village. The two sat there, enjoying the relative peace the annoying job brought them and normally they'd have been very attentive. So when a certain red-headed Uzumaki ran past the gate and into the village roof tops, neither shinobi noticed much to Katsuro's surprise.

Still, he wasn't about to let the lack of security go to waste, after all he was basically breaking into the village of the leaves. Rushing over the roof tops, Katsuro bee-lined straight for the Hokage's office and was grateful to see the old building exactly where it had been a year ago. Noting that the window was closed from a distance, Katsuro cursed under his breath and jumped down to ground level so he could rush in the building.

Pushing past the many official looking assistants, Katsuro forced himself up the flight of stairs as people were just beginning to realize what was happening. He had managed to just get the doors in his sight before he suddenly felt something force him to the ground. Growling at his entrapment, he glared up at the Anbu who had managed to pin him to the ground.

"Bastards. Let me go!" He hissed as he started to thrash about. Having expected such, the Anbu tried to tighten their grips but found that they were still being tossed about. Struggling to keep the red-head under control, the two Anbu were surprised when the Hokage charged out of his office.

"What is going on here?" The Sandaime demanded before noticing the two Anbu on a very familiar looking man. Taking in his appearance, Sarutobi tried to place the man and was only able to do so when a pair of angry blue-green eyes caught his.

"Sandaime!" Katsuro called as the old man finally recognized him.

"Release him!" The Hokage ordered as he rushed over to help the last Uzumaki rise.

"But sir..." One of the Anbu began before being silenced by the third Hokage's glare.

"Do as I say and release him." He growled. Unable to refuse the order, the two Anbu removed themselves from Katsuro's back as the Hokage helped the man up.

"What happened?" Katsuro demanded as he got to his feet.

Knowing that he couldn't refuse to answer that question, the Hokage sighed heavily before signaling his Anbu guard to leave him. Again, they went to protest but the old man was able to scare them off with one glare. Once left alone, Katsuro was ushered into the Hokage's office and was closing the door behind him when Sarutobi spoke again.

"What do you know?" The Hokage asked as he activated the silencing seals within the office. With them active, only those within the room could hear the conversation about to take place.

"That the demon fox attacked Konoha and that Minato and Kushina died fighting it off." Katsuro answered as he slowly made his way to the Hokage's desk.

He was amazed how steady his voice had sounded. One part of his brain was marveling at this apparent calmness while another was panicking for the scrolls he had fought to bring to Konoha and the last part was just demanding to know how his cousin had gone. He hadn't known that his jumbled brain was able to form such a coherent sentence and wished he could have known such in the war. Might have gotten him out of a few pointless fights if he had.

The Hokage meanwhile could only sigh as he tried to think of where to begin. Figuring it would be best to tell the young man everything, Sarutobi laced his fingers and rested his elbows on the deck before deciding to speak.

"There is a lot you don't know Katsuro and I suppose the best place to start is with Kushina herself." The Hokage began. Realizing that he was probably about to learn of some village secret, Katsuro prepared himself for what the Hokage was going to tell him.

Only, he wasn't really prepared to hear what the old man had to say.

Sarutobi began by telling Katsuro the reason why Kushina had been brought to Konoha, that the Kyuubi no Kitsune could only safely be sealed within an Uzumaki. He then told Katsuro how Kushina had announced that she was pregnant shortly after Katsuro had left the village and the village elders concerns of the pregnancy. Finally, the Hokage told a shell shocked Katsuro everything they knew from the Kyuubi attack.

"Just before dying though, Kushina told me to insure that the village would see Naruto as he truly was. A jailer to the demon rather then the demon itself." The Hokage concluded before waiting for the boy to speak.

Katsuro meanwhile was wishing there was a chair to collapse into. Everything the Hokage had told him was slowly tumbling around in his head but the one thought that seemed to surface above the others was Kushina's son.

"Naruto." Katsuro said slowly, trying his baby cousins name.

It was only then that he really understood why he had been so scared when he heard of Kushina's death. It was because he was alone now. He was the last known and trained Uzumaki. Any inheritance of his clan's knowledge and name would be through his line and he wasn't sure if he could bare such a burden. After all, he wasn't exactly the nurturing type.

And then there were the scrolls. Last he checked someone was trying to get at them but at the same time, he knew Minato and Kushina had probably improved on the defenses he had initially put up. With them gone now though, it was up to Katsuro now to guard them.

Groaning at the burden that was placed on his shoulders, Katsuro ended up crouching as he held his head. Trying to process everything at once was just giving him a headache, so Katsuro decided to just focus on his reactions to one thing at a time.

So one: Kushina was Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. To that he felt indifferent. He only knew Kushina as the woman he saw so her status made no difference to him.

Two: Kushina and Minato had a son. To this he was happy as there was now a new generation of Uzumaki.

Three: Kushina and Minato were dead, leaving there son an orphan. At that Katsuro could only feel an overwhelming sadness. He had liked Minato and Kushina and there loss was a heavy one for him. The prospect that their son was now an orphan also made him draw parallels to his own life.

Sinking further into a depression at that, Katsuro's thoughts are broken when there is a knock on the Hokage's door. Looking up, he could see the old man waiting for his response. Feeling slightly embarrassed for being unable to control himself, Katsuro stood up again before nodding to the Hokage and thinking over possible solutions for the ridiculous situation they now found themselves in.

"Enter." The Hokage calls once Katsuro has regained some of his demeanor and releasing the seals. The heavy atmosphere is lifted slightly as Hatake Kakashi walked into the room.

Seeing Katsuro in the corner, Kakashi's good eye shone painfully for a moment before he bowed respectfully to the Hokage.

"Lord Hokage. I have come to inform you of a case of child neglect and abuse." Kakashi began, feeling the atmosphere bristle at his words.

"Neglect and abuse?" The Sandaime started as his own shock began to set in. Kakashi nodded slowly.

"Yes sir." Kakashi said. "Someone has disobeyed your orders. Just about the entire village knows what Naruto is now and they have already started moving."

Katsuro's mussing, which had been occupying him up until that moment, was forgotten as Kakashi mentioned Kushina's son. Giving the conversation his full attention, Katsuro felt a little bit of normality return as his mind was able to focus on one thing.

"What happened?" The Hokage demanded as he stood up from behind his desk.

"I was finishing my mission to help rebuild some of the residential area when I happened to over hear two women talking. They obviously knew of Naruto's condition and were plotting to kill him." Kakashi explained as a bit of rage flashed in his own eye. Hearing such a thing, Katsuro felt the rage within him begin to lash out as his chakra began to spike but he kept it contained.

"After hearing such, I ran to the orphanage to find the caretaker shaking him. I removed Naruto from her care and rushed him to the hospital." Kakashi said as he gave Katsuro a worried look. He could feel the killer intent beginning to rise in the boy and he prayed the Katsuro wouldn't unleash such on those who were technically innocent.

"The doctor said that there shouldn't be any damage from the shaking, as I brought the child to them quickly but he is bruised and will be under supervision for a while." Kakashi finished before seeing the unspoken question in the Hokage's eyes. "I have two shadow clones with the child right now to watch over him and discourage any other risk takers."

Hiruzen nodded at this and grumbled at what it all meant. Naruto was now a target because people couldn't tell the difference between a scroll and the knife sealed within it.

"This is unpleasant to say the least." The old Hokage began before looking over at the brooding Uzumaki.

"I know you probably don't think you can raise a child Katsuro, but as Naruto's only living relative I ask you to please consider looking after him. If you don't, I will have no choice but to send him back to the orphanage." The Hokage stated as he bore down on Katsuro with a piercing gaze.

Caught in the older man's intense stare, Katsuro felt his rage leave him as he considered the Hokage's words. Taking a moment to think, Katsuro could only come to one conclusion.

If the situation had been reversed between him and Kushina, she wouldn't have hesitated a moment before making her choice.

"Lord Hokage." Katsuro began, a sense of determination overcoming him. Somehow he knew his clan was looking down on him in this moment and in his minds eye their normally stoic faces all brightened into happy smiles.

"I wish to formally adopt Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto as my legal charge and reinstate myself within Konoha's ranks." Katsuro stated as a tired smile grew on the Hokage's face and in Kakashi's eye.

"There is no need for reinstatement Katsuro. According the official records, you have been away on a long recon mission of Kiri's condition and returned just today." The Hokage said as he made his way to his desk.

Shocked by the Hokage's answer, Katsuro just nodded slowly before noting the older man's slight change in behavior. The Hokage became serious again as he began thinking of the situation from a leaders stand point.

"Now then. With you back here in Konoha and raising your nephew, things are going to be a little hard on you Katsuro." Hiruzen began. "In order to feed your charge you will need to go on missions but those mission will take you away from your charge. So I suggest finding some people you can trust to help you look after the boy when you are away."

Katsuro nodded at that advise as he began to ponder who he could rely on. Truthfully, there wasn't really anyone who he could actually call friend and he didn't know Minato and Kushina's friends at all so he couldn't exactly reach out to them.

Cursing under his breath at the realization that he had no one to ask, Kakashi stepped forward.

"I'm willing to help him Lord Hokage. It's the least I can do for my sensei. And I also know others who would be willing to help if asked." Kakashi supplied for Katsuro. Nodding gratefully to the silver-haired shinobi, Katsuro returned his attention to the Hokage.

Content with the answer, The Hokage then turned to the next issue.

"Now the question turns to housing." Hiruzen began before Katsuro intervened.

"I wish to stay in or near Kushina and Minato's house." He requested, knowing that the Hokage should have some idea of why.

"I was getting there." The Hokage muttered before continuing. "Minato and Kushina both made it obvious in your time with them that you were always welcome in there home so I am sure they won't mind you living in it as you raise their son. Thus I am making you property keeper until Naruto becomes an adult according to our traditions. After that, all decisions on who lives where will be up to him."

Katsuro nodded in relief at that and gave the older man a very small smile. Smiling back, Hiruzen opened a desk drawer and pulled out an official adoption paper. Quickly filling it out, he outlined Katsuro's duties as both the property keeper and shinobi of Konoha. When he finished, Katsuro gave him an assured nod as the Hokage's seal and signature were placed on the bottom of the page.

"It's official then." The Hokage said as he held the pen out to Katsuro.

"Once you sign this paper, you will be Naruto's guardian." The old man said seriously before Katsuro took the pen and signed the paper without pausing. Smiling at such, Hiruzen set the paper aside to be filed at a later date,

"Welcome back Uzumaki-san." Hiruzen said with a sad smile. Katsuro returned the smile before turning to Kakashi with a very serious look.

"Take me to Naruto." he demanded, getting a lazy nod from the relieved jounin.

* * *

**A/N- And that's chapter 1! Hope you all enjoyed, I'm off to start chapter 2 now.**

**Please review for me though. Reviews are motivation, which means sooner updates for the readers.**


	2. Early Days 2

**A/N- Hey all! Here is chapter 2 of Rise of the Uzumaki Clan. Nothing really to say about this one except a bunch of fun with babies on paper.**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto. Yet. **

* * *

Later the same day that the Sandaime had finally come up with a solution for Naruto, the Hokage could be found in his office cursing the short tempers of red-headed Uzumaki's. According to the reports in front of him, Kakashi had brought Katsuro to the hospital so he could watch over his nephew when they both overheard a very heated discussion between a doctor and three representatives of the Civilian Council.

One very pissed off Katsuro being held back by the White Fang's son later, and the civilian council were all filing formal complaints against the red-head. Apparently they hadn't enjoyed Katsuro's little joke of making them all disappear to never be seen or heard from again. Groaning at that thought, the Sandaime went back to cursing short tempered Uzumaki's as he tried to get at least that paperwork done before retiring for the night.

* * *

Katsuro meanwhile, was sneezing up a storm with every one of Hokage's curses. Noting the fit, the nurse helping him to check Naruto out of the hospital gave him a small knowing smirk before continuing to explain to him the contents of the scrolls she was passing him.

Inside these scrolls was all the basic information Katsuro would need for raising a baby. Everything from the things he would need around the house, to developmental information, and between. To Katsuro, the scroll looked like a gift from the gods and the nurse a kind messenger.

Thanking her for all her help, Katsuro signed the last of the check out information and left the hospital. Walking down the darkening streets, he briefly struggled to balance everything before creating a clone to help him carry the child and scrolls. Once he had the unnecessary scrolls sealed in his arms and the one with things he would need around the house open, Katsuro took his baby nephew back and sent the clone he had summoned to Kushina and Minato's place to check and see what was already there.

Looking down at Naruto, he couldn't help but see a baby Minato in his arms. At first he had been shocked, an Uzumaki without the traditional red hair was abnormal, but it wasn't like Kushina had any control of her son's hair color.

That and since arriving at the hospital the baby had hardly made a sound, another abnormality for Uzumaki babies. Katsuro could remember the days when he was a genin at Uzushiogakure and was given the mission to baby sit. He still wondered how his ear drums remained intact. So when Katsuro had expressed his worry to the doctor, the man assured him that Naruto's silence was not due to some ailment. He was just a very quiet baby, something many parents would kill for.

Still, the silence unnerved him a little but with the little blond wrapped up in a rather large beige blanket, that almost seemed twice as big as the baby itself, but Katsuro assumed the baby was too comfortable to be fussy. And very warm.

Which was a good thing actually now that night was starting to set in and Katsuro had decided to walk around Konoha and enjoyed the cooling night air. He was walking down one the entertainment sections of town when a sudden rush of information stopped him in his tracks.

Taking in the clones memories, Katsuro walked over to a little ramen stand and sat down at the bar with Naruto in his arms. Once all the information was passed to him, he quickly fished out the list he had been given before a voice stopped him.

"Are you going to order sir?" The gruff voice asked. Looking up, Katsuro first saw a rather grim man who was regarding him seriously. He hadn't realized where he was or what he was doing but he obviously had to order or leave.

"Ah, yeah. I'm new to town so I'll just have the house special." Katsuro quickly answered before the solemn man smiled happily and began making him a bowl of miso ramen.

Sighing in relief, Katsuro went back to the list and started crossing things off that were already at the house. As he looked over the list, he noted that most of the things he would still need to buy were food items he could purchase down at the market.

But first he would need money, especially considering he had just bought a bowl of ramen. So Katsuro created another clone and sent it down to the Konoha Bank so it could withdraw some Ryo and bring it back.

Watching the young man and the infant from the corner of his eye, Teuchi was a little shocked to see a clone pop into existence and disappear.

"So your a shinobi then?" He asked, getting Katsuro's attention.

"Yeah." Katsuro answered as he rolled the scroll up and put it in his pants pocket.

"I haven't seen you around before now. Are you a recently graduated genin?" The man asked as Katsuro felt a small tick mark form on his forehead.

"No I am not a genin." Katsuro began before the bowl of ramen was sent down in front of him. "I don't spend much time in Konoha and am often traveling."

Sensing the partial lie, Teuchi then glanced down at the sleeping baby Katsuro was balancing in one arm as he ate with the other.

"Your travels slowing down then?" The shop owner asked getting an irritated glare from Katsuro.

"Obviously." He replied before his clone returned with some money.

Luckily, his account was still open from the war otherwise he would have had to asked the Hokage. Taking the money, Katsuro dismissed the clone before paying for the ramen and scarfing the food down. Truthfully it was one of the best things he had eaten in a while and even baby Naruto seemed to want a little.

"Do you want some little guy?" Katsuro asked as he took the spoon and spooned up some of the ramen broth. Blowing on it gently, he was going to let Naruto taste a little when Teuchi grabbed his hand after jumping over the counter.

"Are you insane?" The older man asked as Katsuro gave his the most confused look he could.

"What?" Katsuro managed as Teuchi ripped the spoon from his hand.

"You do not give a new born anything but formula." Teuchi scolded before lecturing Katsuro on the infants digestive system.

"Alright! I get it." Katsuro managed after being chewed out for a good five minutes. Finishing the last the food, he quickly left the ramen stand. Grumbling as he made his way to the market, Katsuro double checked his list while wondering if he could balance the infant on his shoulder.

Such thoughts were disrupted however when he came up to the market. Walking inside, Katsuro picked up a basket and tried to juggle the baby, his list, and the basket as he made his way down the aisles.

Slowly weaving up and down the aisles, he placed everything he would need into the basket and was reaching for some baby formula when Naruto decided to suddenly start crying. Hearing such a shrill sound come from the, thus far, very quiet baby made Katsuro jump and drop the can of formula on the ground.

"Shit." Katsuro cursed as he stared down at the powder that was scattered all over the ground. Naruto then gave another loud cry, making Katsuro jump again. Looking down at the baby, he found himself clueless of what to do.

"Come on little buddy. Stop crying." Katsuro managed as he started pulling the blanket away.

He didn't know why the baby was suddenly crying and he didn't have the chance to read any of the informative scrolls so he was clueless. Removing the child from his blanket, Katsuro tried to check him and find a reason as to why he was suddenly crying but couldn't find anything.

"Your diaper's dry, you're not hurt or hot. What's wrong?" Katsuro asked as he gave the baby a helpless look. Naruto ceased his crying long enough to look up at Katsuro with big watery blue eyes, and Katsuro briefly wondered if the child understood him, before bursting out crying again.

"Oh come on!" Katsuro whined helplessly.

"He's probably hungry." A voice said softly from behind him. Spinning around, Katsuro found himself being approached by a woman.

The woman was in her early twenties and had very womanly figure that was being accented by a simple purple kimono. Her fair skin was accompanied by long dark eggplant hair that fell slightly past her waist with side bangs framing her face down to her shoulders. And her eyes, her eyes were like two liquid pools of mercury and shone with kindness.

Smiling softly at the dazzled teen in front of her, she motioned back down to the still crying Naruto.

"If his diaper is dry and he doesn't appear hurt or sick, then he is probably hungry." The kind woman explained as Katsuro got his brain to function again.

"I wanted to give him a little broth earlier but the shop keeper yelled at me." Katsuro explained before realizing how stupid that sounded. The woman obviously thought so to, as a smirk was forming on her face.

"I can see why he would. Your brother needs milk, preferably his mother's milk." The woman said before seeing a great deal of pain and sorrow fill Katsuro's eyes.

"His parents are dead. I'm all he has now." Katsuro explained before seeing the pity slowly spreading in the woman's eyes.

"I'm sorry." She said softly before motioning to Naruto with a small smile. "May I hold him?"

Nodding, Katsuro passed the crying child to the woman gently and watched in amazement as she cooed at the child, making him cease his crying.

"How did you do that?" Katsuro asked in amazement as a small blush formed on the woman's face.

"It helps to have your own child." She explained before Katsuro noticed the sash tied around the woman's back that held a baby who was watching him curiously with the same eyes of it's mother. Staring at the child, Katsuro found himself almost falling into those large eyes and realized that they weren't exactly the same as her mothers. The baby's eyes had a very light tint of lavender and Katsuro had to literally jerk himself away before he was completely sucked in.

"What is it with you?" He demanded as the mother looked at him curiously. "Are your eyes hypnotic or something?"

Realizing what the teen was talking about, the woman chuckled softly.

"No, but people have said they are." She said before a small grumble, which was quickly followed by a cry, fragmented the atmosphere.

"If you don't mind. I could feed him for you. I would only take a few moments and he would stop crying." The woman offered with a blush.

Quickly accepting the offer, thinking that maybe the woman had a bottle of formula somewhere, Katsuro was a little shocked when the woman asked him to follow her into the back room. Curiously, he grabbed both of their baskets and followed.

"Why are we going into the back?" Katsuro asked as the woman blushed.

"For privacy." She said as they slipped into the stock room as she removed the bulky blanket Naruto had been wrapped in.

Finding a little hole to hide in, Katsuro watched the woman curiously before she blushed darkly at him.

"Could you please turn around? This part is a little personal." The woman asked as she laid the blanket over her shoulder

Confused, Katsuro did as was asked and felt stupid just standing there so he decided to glance back at the woman. As he did so however, he managed to peek back at her right as she pulled open her Kimono from under the blanket.

Understanding why the woman had asked for a little privacy now, Katsuro turned the same red as his hair before quickly spinning back around. A few moments later and Naruto's crying ceased entirely as Katsuro stood there he did so however, Katsuro was left wondering where the hell the woman had gotten enough confidence to do what she had just done with such a straight face. He certainly wouldn't have thought that any normal woman would have done so openly.

After a few moments, the woman commented that Naruto was fed now and passed the boy back to him. Katsuro tried to take the baby without looking at the woman and glared down at the little smiling blonde.

"You're mother would kill you if she saw you with that shit eating grin." Katsuro lightly scolded before the woman appeared from his hiding place perfectly fine. She was blushing pretty badly herself, probably because she was just realizing what she had done for a random teenage boy she really didn't know.

"He should be fine for a few hours now but you should make a few bottles of formula ahead of time." The woman tried to instruct as she handed Katsuro the blanket back

"Wouldn't it be better to give it to him fresh?" He asked as he tried to wrap Naruto back up in the blanket.

Watching him, the woman took the blanket as she noticed that it was long enough to use as a baby carrier. She quickly showed Katsuro how to use the blanket as a baby carrier while explaining that babies were very sensitive to hot and cold.

She then placed a sleeping Naruto on Katsuro's back before reaching for his basket to hand it to him. As she did so however, she got a good look at the basket and started pulling things out.

"What are you doing?" Katsuro asked as he crossed his arms behind his back, worried that Naruto might slip and fall out of the sling.

"These diapers are too big for a new born. And these bottles are a nightmare to clean." She said as she switched to the persona Katsuro had decided to call Super-Mom.

"Really? It all looks the same to me." Katsuro mentioned as he looked over the woman's shoulder to see the contents of his basket. The woman gave Katsuro a questioning look before setting his basket down, taking his hand, and dragging him back out to the market with her own basket hanging from her arm.

The two then traveled back up and down the aisles with Super-Mom selecting all the things Katsuro would need while he held the basket and took notes on what she told him the differences between two products. At one point, the woman had turned to ask Katsuro if he could cook but found him scribbling all over a small scroll before he looked up at her.

"What?" He asked as the woman held in a laugh.

"Nothing. Can you cook?" She asked. Shaking his head, Katsuro felt a small blush form on his face as the woman smirked at her.

"You better learn quickly. Otherwise your brother won't get the nutrients he needs to grow up big and strong." She commented in a cutesy way as her own baby began giggling at the sound.

"Oh, Naruto isn't my brother." Katsuro quickly corrected. "I'm actually not sure how we're related but we belong to the same clan and outside of him, I'm the only survivor of the clan."

Again, a look of sadness and pity flashed through the woman's eyes.

"I'm sorry." She quickly apologized as Katsuro shrugged.

"It's nothing really." Katsuro began before feeling his throat close. Unable to talk about it anymore, Katsuro just attempted to clear his throat as the woman nodded in understanding.

"Well, that's everything off this list of yours." The woman said as she passed the scroll back to Katsuro. Taking the scroll, Katsuro nodded before thanking the woman for everything as they both went to check out and pay for their items. Once they had everything paid for and bagged, they left the market.

Katsuro again thanked the woman with a short bow while she waved him off. The two waved goodbye to each other before Katsuro summoned a clone to help him carry the bags back to the house. It was only about half way to the house that he realized that he hadn't gotten the woman's name.

"Damn." The teen softly cursed before seeing the house just down the street.

Walking over to the house, Katsuro could see that the barrier around the house was still active. Pushing a little of his chakra into it, he was relieved to see the barrier open up for him. Stepping within the barrier and waiting a few moments for his clone, Katsuro then closed the barrier behind him and followed his clone into the house.

He was halted in the door way however, when the dark and heavy atmosphere of the house hit him. The entire building suddenly foreign to him, like he didn't belong there. Even when he first came to the house during the war he hadn't felt this way.

"Boss?" His clone asked as Katsuro stared into the darkness. Swallowing, Katsuro reached for the light switch and felt relieved when light flooded into the house.

"Put the stuff away and make a couple bottles of formula for Naruto. I'm going to put him to bed." Katsuro ordered as he recalled where his previous clone had seen a baby crib. Nodding at his orders, the clone took the groceries and disappeared to the right to put things away as Katsuro slowly began walking down the main hall.

Walking all the way to the end of the hall he turned left and halted at the master bedroom door. Taking a breath to steady himself, he slowly opened the door and stepped inside the room.

It wasn't an overly impressive thing, only a little bit larger then his own room had been. But the bed was definitely larger then his, after all it was meant for two. Stepping into the room, Katsuro tried to imagine himself sleeping there and simply shook his head. There was no way he could sleep in Kushina and Minato's room.

"I'll be taking my old room again." He said to no one in particular. "I don't think anyone will be living in this room until Naruto is a grown man but in the mean time I'll make sure to look after him."

Somehow feeling a little bit better after that, Katsuro nodded before gently removing Naruto from his back and laying him on the bed.

"Stay still while I move your crib into my room." He ordered the sleeping infant before going over to the rocking crib and lifting it. Slowly moving the crib into his room, Katsuro was a little glad that the baby bed wasn't very heavy and his room wasn't very far.

He managed to get the bed into his room and was returning to Naruto when felt his clone dispel. Pausing a moment as the information the clone had obtained rushed him, Katsuro shook the feeling off before returning to Naruto. And just as he had ordered, the infant hadn't moved an inch.

"You're either going to be the best child ever born or the worst." Katsuro commented before picking the infant up and bringing it into his room.

Laying the baby down in the crib, Katsuro brushed some of the baby's blond hair aside before walking out of the room and deciding he needed to check on the library.

Leaving his room to walk into the main sitting room, he found the small passage that once lead down to the basement. Carefully walking down the stairs, he was soon standing before a very heavy looking door and recognized the seal written on it.

Biting his thumb, Katsuro smeared a small drop of blood onto the seal and flashed through the appropriate hand signs to dispel the seal. He noticed the seal glow for a moment as his blood disappeared into the seal and heard a small click. Knowing the door was now unlocked, Katsuro slowly opened the door and felt his breath catch in his chest as he stepped into the room.

When he had left Konoha a year ago, the room had just been a plain and empty room. Now however, it was a proper library with floor to ceiling selves, a table and chairs, and a few fireless lights hanging from the ceiling. From the door way, he could also see that the scrolls weren't placed randomly either, they were organized into sections.

Walking a little further into the room, he heard the door closing behind him and turned to see it close and the seal reset itself. Scanning the wall by the door he saw two flags hanging on each side, one baring the Uzumaki Clan insignia on it and the other with Konoha's. The other three walls meanwhile, had the floor to ceiling bookcases with the exception of a second door on the right hand wall.

Walking around the room quickly, he found the historical section took up a wall by it self and the other two walls were C and B-ranked instruction scrolls. Which made Katsuro wondered where the other instruction scrolls were. Again, his attention was brought to the extra door and Katsuro slowly walked over to find that this door was also sealed. Breaking the forming scab on his thumb, Katsuro again swiped his blood over the seal and released it.

Again there was a click, and Katsuro slowly opened the door to walk into a secondary room. He recognized the room to be what had been planed to be a practice room. Now it was an additional section of the library; a section that was filled with A, S, and SS-ranked jutsu. Inside, he could see the walls were also covered by scrolls and there was a small table, just like the main room. On this table however, was one of the large scroll that looked familiar and a Katana.

Walking over, he noted that the katana's sheath was a simple white wood with a red spiral going up the blade from it's tip. Picking the blade up, he slowly unsheathed the Katana and marveled at the lustrous blue steel. On one side, Katsuro could see the kanji of their clan name and it's insignia and felt incredibly light in his hand. Testing it's balance, he was shocked to find it was perfect but not perfect for him. The katana felt wrong in his hand so Katsuro re-sheathed it and put it back on its stand, where he intended to leave it until Naruto was old enough to learn kenjutsu.

Which brought his attention back to the old scroll sitting beside the blade. Katsuro recognized it as one of the scrolls he had brought to Konoha. Noting that the scroll was now unsealed, Katsuro couldn't help but slowly unroll it. He was shocked to find his uncle's message and leaned over the desk as he read it.

After reading over the note a few times due to shock, Katsuro felt the same seed of hate settle in his chest but it was accompanied with the pain of betrayal. Growling lightly, Katsuro went to turn and leave when his hand hit the scroll and unraveled it a little more. Cursing, Katsuro stopped the scroll from falling to the ground when he noticed more writing. Opening the scroll up further, Katsuro was again shocked to find another not but this one was written by Kushina.

It said that with the loss of Uzushiogakure, the scrolls came into Kushina's hands and the loss had left a heavy burden on the remaining survivors. Never-the-less, the past was done and all that remained was to protect the future. Thus, the Uzumaki Library had been built. Within the small basement, that could only be accessed by an Uzumaki, were all the scrolls of Uzushiogakure. Every scroll present held within it dozens of other and could be divided in two categories, clan history and fuinjutsu. Kushina had hoped that in the future that the small room would be overrun by young and aspiring Uzumaki's one day. Although she had hoped they are not all her children, which made Katsuro chuckle lightly. Kushina closed her note by commenting that until the day came when another Uzumaki would take the duty of protecting their legacy, she would uphold her duty and protect the library.

Again, Katsuro found himself re-reading the note as shock settled in. It was a good five minutes later that he moved again. Looking around the library, Katsuro found a pen and some ink before returning to the scroll. Opening it a little more he began writing his own passage.

He wrote that it had been a little over a year since the scrolls came to Konoha. He wrote that he felt it his duty to also record that Uzumaki Kushina had passed on after dying to protect her village. Unfortunately however, she had left the library and that he would take up where Kushina had left off. Katsuro swore to protect and pass on the legacy of the Uzumaki clan until he could pass the duty to another.

Finishing his own little exert, Katsuro waited for the ink to dry before rolling the scroll back up and putting it back where he found it. Suddenly feeling exhausted, Katsuro slowly left the small room and locked everything up before climbing the stairs back up to the main room.

Once he reached the top of the stairs, Katsuro could hear Naruto crying and found the energy to run to his room to check on the infant.

Bursting into his room, Katsuro immediately reeled as the stench of something foul hit him in the face. Retreating into the hall, Katsuro couldn't help but dry heave as he tried to get his body under control.

"Kami! What did you eat?!" Katsuro shouted before coughing a few times to clear his lungs of the foul air.

He could tell without a doubt that Naruto needed a diaper change so he summoned two clones to help him. One to get the information scroll that would teach him how to change a diaper and the other to try and sooth Naruto from the door as the real Katsuro ran to get a fresh diaper.

After running around a little, both Katsuro's felt a surge of information and took it in. The real Katsuro made sure to grab the baby wipes, baby powder, and a small plastic bag before returning to the room.

"Here. Go change his diaper." Katsuro commanded as he passed the supplies to his clone.

The shadow clone gave him an 'are you insane' look before pushing the supplies back into Katsuro's arms and dispelling. Staring at the spot his clone had just been, Katsuro cursed himself for being a coward before taking a breath and holding it. Slowly moving into the room, Katsuro threw the changing materials onto his bed before making his way over to the crying baby and slowly lifting him out of the crib.

Setting Naruto down by the changing supplies, Katsuro quickly opened the diaper and was about to pull it away when he made the mistake of opening his mouth to exhale a little. This put Katsuro into another fit of gagging and dry heaving as he managed to taste the awful smell and that first gag had made him take a breath.

Running to the fresh air of the hall, Katsuro tried to clear out his lungs as Naruto cried louder.

"I know! I know!" Katsuro shouted back at the baby as he mentally hyped himself up for the job.

"Kami. You'd think after going through a war and burying your sun baked clan, a diaper would be child's play." Katsuro muttered to himself as he wiped the last of the tears out of his eyes.

Taking one last breath, Katsuro charged back into the room and over to Naruto. He took the baby's ankles in one hand and lifted the baby's butt to pull the diaper away, gagging when he saw the liquid green mush it was filled with. He however, couldn't run back to the hall this time unless he wanted the poo on his covers. So he just gagged in place before setting the soiled diaper on the plastic bag.

"Maybe you should lay off the formula." Katsuro suggested to the baby who was ceasing his crying.

Again, watery blue eyes stared up at him and Katsuro could see the start of more water works so he quickly brought his attention back to the baby's dirty hiney. Struggling with the baby wipes, Katsuro resisted throwing up as he finally got the package open and used a dozen wipes to clean the baby's bottom. As he did so, he noted that Naruto had stopped crying and was smiling.

"Better now?" Katsuro asked as he wiped up the last of the poo.

Naruto responded by smiling up at Katsuro before Katsuro turned to toss another soiled cloth away. As he did so however, he felt a warm spot growing on his side and turned to find Naruto peeing on him and laughing.

"Naruto!" Katsuro shouted as his little blonde nephew finished peeing on him. The baby smiled up at Katsuro as his legs were released and Katsuro ripped his shirt off.

"That's vile. I'm definitely showering after this." Katsuro muttered as he tossed his wet shirt aside. He then glared down at the baby before powdering him and putting a new diaper on.

"There, you're changed so go back to bed." Katsuro ordered as he set the baby back in his crib.

He then tried to clean up the colossal mess when Naruto started crying again. Grumbling, Katsuro created a clone to clean up as he picked Naruto up.

Figuring the baby was hungry now, Katsuro gently carried the baby to the kitchen where a few bottles of formula waited on the counter. Testing the warm of the formula, he noted it was room temperature and offered the bottle to Naruto who started to such greedily.

"Easy there little guy. If you eat to quickly you might drop another stink bomb on me." Katsuro joked with a small smirk as his clone walked by holding the diaper bag at an arms length. The two Katsuro's danced around each other as the clone brought the bag to the trash and Katsuro did his best to stay away.

Once the bag was disposed of, the clone went back to the room to clean up the bed when Katsuro heard the barrier alarm for the house go off. The loud sound made Naruto start crying and Katsuro's clone was quickly by his side.

"Check it out." Katsuro ordered as his clone nodded and made his way to the door.

The clone opened the door and stepped out into the night when a wolf whistle reached his ears.

"Well well. Aren't you a cutie." A woman called from the edge of the barrier.

Looking over at her, Katsuro's clone could see that the woman was part of a group of three. Of the three, the clone immediately recognized Kakashi.

"Do you have any idea how much you scared us?" The clone demanded as he walked over to the silver-haired cyclops. Kakashi gave the clone an apologetic smile as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry but something came up." Kakashi said as the clone released the barrier to turn the alarm off. The clone then let the barrier down enough for the three to step inside and reset it once they had stepped inside.

"What came up?" The clone asked as he gestured the group to come inside.

"Well, turns out I was recommended for the Anbu program and I might be pulled into it." Kakashi explained sadly as he gestured to the other two people he had with him. "Because of this, I asked Nara Yoshino and Shikaku if they could help you raise Naruto."

Katsuro looked the two over and briefly recalled a man named Nara Shikaku from the war.

"Why would you want to help me with Naruto?" The clone asked as he opened the door for the house.

Stepping inside, the couple were about to answer when they saw a second Katsuro rocking a fussing Naruto in the kitchen. The baby was resting against his chest with Katsuro supporting his head and lightly hopping from one foot to the other to calm the baby. Seeing the group walking into the dinning room, Katsuro gave his clone a questioning look before dispelling it and taking in the conversation to that point.

Yoshino, meanwhile, was glancing back and forth from where the clone had been standing previously and where Katsuro stood as she wondered if the Katsuro she first encountered was a clone. Shikaku however already knew Katsuro's abilities, or at least what was on file, and wasn't surprised by the clone.

"We want to help because he is the son of the Yandaime and you'll need or help." Shikaku commented before shrugging lazily. "Beside, my troublesome wife ordered me to go down to the Hokage's office and adopt Naruto if everyone was going to be...How did you put it dear?"

The question was asked with such a sickeningly sweet voice that Yoshino felt a tick mark appear on her forehead.

"He doesn't need to know exactly what I said dear." Yoshino hissed before turning to Katsuro with a pair of very angry and determined eyes.

"But if no one was going to raise a hero of Konoha properly and instead treat him like a personal punching bag they will have to go through me first. Kushina was a woman I respected greatly, I won't let her son be treated with such disrespect." The Nara woman declared, making Katsuro mentally label her as another Super-mom.

He was however, a little glad to see her so determined in this and let the breath he had been holding go.

"Thank you Nara-san. I am relieved to hear such, especially now that I know Kakashi is bailing on his promise." Katsuro said spitefully as he gave the cyclops a glare. Said man could only apologize again before Naruto began fussing again.

Hearing the noise, Katsuro tried to check the child and found that if he moved the child away it would cry more. So he had to move the boy closer to him.

"Is he always going to be like this?" Katsuro asked, making Yoshino laugh.

"You should wrap him in one of your shirts. I will smell like you so he'll think you're near by and being surrounded will make him feel protected." The woman advised.

Katsuro regarded the woman closely for a moment as he thought over the advise before realizing that it was not a Super-mom before him. It was another kind angel sent by the god's.

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**A/N- Please don't make me beg for reviews. I love the feedback, even if it's just a "I think I almost died laughing." or a "lol" as most people say now a days.**


	3. Early Days 3

**A/N- I'm sorry for the late update but it's hard to sit down and write when friends and family from all over the country suddenly show up at your door and you have to entertain them the month they're there while also working.**

**Anyways! Here is the next chapter. I don't think it very funny or to plot heavy but it was something I felt I should write. The next chapter will be fun though, so look forward to that.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I wish I did because if I did Naruto would not have said: "Yeah, you could say that. I mean, if you're spliting hairs I guess..." in chapter 631. He would have said: "No. Hinata's my girl." but I digress. **

**Here's chapter 3!**

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The morning was a beautiful one. The sun that slowly rose over the horizon sent forth streaks of red, yellow, and orange across the blue of the retreating night sky. A gentle breeze slowly blew it's way through the majestic trees, orchestrating a whisper of leaves that lulled the stirring creatures back to sleep. With, of course, the exception of one very tired and very annoyed red-head.

Instead of hearing the soft rustle of leaves, Uzumaki Katsuro could only hear the shrill crying of his young charge. Throughout the night Naruto had woken him for one demand or the other and now that the sun had risen, Katsuro was sure he had only slept a couple of hours.

Groaning at the sound of Naruto's loud cries, Katsuro had to literally roll out of his bed and crash onto the ground with a heavy thud before he felt any sort of function return to his body. Unfortunately however, the heavy thud also informed Naruto that Katsuro was awake so the baby cried even harder for his caretaker.

"Alright. Alright!" Katsuro shouted as he forced himself up onto his knees. He had to pause a moment however, as the room decided to swirl a little under him before settling enough for him to drag himself to his feet. Once on the shaky limbs he slowly stumbled over to Naruto's crib.

Now, one would think that a veteran of a war would be used to lack of sleep. And that was true, Katsuro could go days without solid sleep by napping when it was appropriate. However, none of that could prepare the young man for the type of sleep deprivation he would face while caring for Naruto.

The little blonde Tod, as Katsuro had decided to call him, seemed to be telepathic as every time Katsuro had just managed to fall into deep sleep Naruto would cry and wrench him from his starting dreams. This disturbance of his deep sleep, and his foolish attempts to still try and grab some sleep, had led the youth to his exhaustion. That exhaustion however, fled him the second the stench of Naruto's diaper hit him in the face.

Reeling at the stench, Katsuro threw himself back and forced down the gagging he felt coming on. Getting control of his body again, Katsuro grumbled under his breath as he quickly scooped the crying Naruto up and stepped outside his room.

Where there had once been an empty hall, was now a changing station that had been dragged out of the master bedroom the night before by Yoshino.

_~Flashback~_

_Everyone in the room had been a little disturbed by the star struck gaze that suddenly fallen over Katsuro as he regarded Yoshino oddly. After a moment, Shikaku had to clear his throat and lazily put an arm around his wife to bring the boy back to reality while also laying claim to her. At which, Katsuro had to quickly apologize._

_Yoshino waved the whole thing off though, silently pleased by Shikaku's actions. It wasn't often someone could urge her husband into action but apparently Katsuro had managed to concern the lazy Nara enough to make him uncomfortable._

_Watching the short interaction, Kakashi couldn't help but laugh a little as he walked over to Katsuro and put a hand on his shoulder. He would have commented that Katsuro wasn't after the Nara's wife but he was stopped when the scent of pee filled his nose._

_"Katsuro, why do you smell like urine?" Kakashi asked as he took a few steps away from the Uzumaki. Looking over at the cyclops, Katsuro regarded him for a moment before understanding what he meant._

_"Oh. Naruto peed on me when I was changing him." Katsuro explained lamely before realizing just how pathetic that sounded. He, a veteran shinobi, had been peed on by his newly born nephew. Picturing such a thing then reduced the adults to fits of giggles as Katsuro stood near by, red with embarrassment._

_"How was I to know he'd pee on me? I just got the kid a few hours ago. I don't know anything about babies!" Katsuro defended as Shikaku and Kakashi began to actually laugh at Katsuro's expense._

_Yoshino however, couldn't help but pity the young man. His statement reminded her that despite the fact that Katsuro was a shinobi, he was still a very young man. Young enough, that most people would have expected him to still be living with his parents for guidance despite his status as a shinobi. Katsuro however, did not have a family to guild him and that thought was a very depressing one to Yoshino._

_"Well if you ever need help with Naruto, feel free to just come over to our estate." Yoshino practically commanded, cutting through the playful jibes that had been poked at the Uzumaki moments before._

_"Uh...Thank you Nara-san." Katsuro said in mild shock. The woman gave him a small smile before walking over and plucking Naruto from his grip._

_"Now go bathe. You stink." Yoshino commanded as she worked her magic on the child. The baby squirmed a little as he was taken from Katsuro's presence, but he quickly settled as Yoshino calmed him and rocked him back to sleep._

_Katsuro meanwhile, stood near by and watched nervously until he saw that Naruto was fine without him. Assured that the baby wasn't going to miss him, Katsuro gave a small shrug before heading into the bathroom to bathe._

_Stepping inside the front part of the bathroom, Katsuro quickly removed his clothes before hearing the soft clicking of metal. Confused as to what may have been causing the sound, he looked around to try and find the source of the noise and paused when he caught his reflection in a mirror hanging by the door._

_Looking into his reflection, Katsuro didn't really see anything out of place except the gold locket hanging from his throat. Taking the necklace off, he let the locket sit in his hand and regarded the small piece closely._

_From the intricate swirls on the lockets surface, he could tell that it had originally been made in Uzushiogakure. Which meant that more then likely, the man in the picture the locket hid away had bought it for Hikaru as a token of his affection and such affection had obviously been returned. But something had obviously happened to the couple, as the Hikaru he knew had never been married._

_Suddenly, Katsuro felt a heavy weight settle in the locket as he realized that in this one tiny trinket was not just an old photograph. Inside the small locket was an old and broken dream that had been taken by the harsh reality of war._

_Clenching the locket, Katsuro then understood why he hadn't thrown the trinket away. Perhaps, on some level, he could sense the weight of the locket and it was only when he actually stopped to think about it that he became aware of it's weight. Or maybe he had just felt some sort of connection to the piece and kept it unconsciously._

_Either way, Katsuro decided then and there to add the Uzushiogakure symbol inside the locket and always wear it as a reminder of the loss that came with war. Not only for himself but for those he would consider his enemies as well._

_With that thought in mind, Katsuro put the locket back around his neck before grabbing a wash basin and stepping into the inner most part of the bathroom._

_After a quick bath, Katsuro stepped back into the changing room and unsealed his travel pack from his arm. Inside the pack, he found the few clothes he had worn as a fisher man and just pulled out a clean pair of shorts and a loose shirt._

_Once dressed, he quickly had left the bathroom and paused when he noted that there was now tall table-looking thing just outside his bedroom door. Regarding the thing oddly, Katsuro slowly walked over to his bedroom before tossing his pack inside._

_Walking back down the hall, he found Yoshino and Shikaku in the kitchen with an odd looking basket while Kakashi leaned on the table._

_"What's that?" Katsuro asked as Yoshino put the baby bath in the sink._

_"This is what you bath Naruto in until he can sit up on his own." Yoshino explained before pulling the plastic tub out of the sink._

_"And the thing in the hall?" Katsuro asked as he pointed around his body in the general direction the thing was._

_"A changing station." Kakashi said nonchalantly. "It's where you change the baby's diaper."_

_Feeling rather foolish for not realizing such, Katsuro's mouth formed a small 'O' before he took Naruto back from Yoshino. The blond Tod stirred a little in his sleep but was quick to settle into Katsuro's arm and lightly clutch his shirt._

_Smiling at the scene before her, Yoshino felt a small bit of pride swell in her but she quickly pushed it aside as she thought of a few things to inform Katsuro of._

_"Now." Yoshino began as she became supermom again. "Newborns are restless at night. Expect Naruto to wake up ever couple hours for one thing or another."_

_As she spoke, Yoshino noticed Katsuro pull out a small notebook and started writing as she continued._

_"Also, after feeding the baby you should put him on your shoulder and pat his back gently until he burps or he might do it while laying down and suffocate himself. Oh! And the smell in the baby's diaper will continue until the baby establishes a proper microfloura in his intestine." Yoshino added as Katsuro scrunched his nose at the last bit and wrote it down._

_"Lovely." Katsuro muttered to himself as the adults all smiled at him._

_"Well." Kakashi began. "I have a mission in the morning so I think it's time for me to head out."_

_"We should also go." Shikaku quickly added as he wrapped an arm around Yoshino's waist. "Our son is waiting for us and we should get back to him."_

_A little shocked that the trio were suddenly leaving, Katsuro could only nod slowly and walk with them to the barrier as they left. Waving goodbye, the group split off to head to the homes as Katsuro reset the barrier and headed inside to sleep._

_~~End Flashback~~_

Thinking back on the night, Katsuro was still a bit shocked that the Nara's were so quick to offer their assistance. As far as he knew, they had no relations to Naruto or his parents so it seemed they were trying to help out of general good intentions. Unexplained good intentions however, always made Katsuro a little uneasy. Still, the help was needed so he'd have to just see where this all went.

Which meant that he had baby lessons with Yoshino today.

Lifting a now cleaned and changed Naruto from the changing station, Katsuro checked his time and realized he was expected over at Yoshino's in an hour. That meant he had enough time to eat and dress before going to the Nara estate.

With a plan of action, Katsuro created two clones to help him and handed Naruto to one of them. The clones both then disappeared into the kitchen to make breakfast for Naruto and himself while the real Katsuro slipped back into his room to change.

Checking his travel bag, he is a little disappointed to find that he only had one outfit left and added clothes shopping to the day's to-do list. That however, meant that he would have to stop at the bank to withdraw some money for clothes shopping. And while he was there he might as well pick up a balance book and see if anything was left for Naruto. Adding both tasks to the to-do list as well, Katsuro pulled out his remaining outfit and striped off his current one.

Putting on the long black pants and sleeveless grey shirt, Katsuro quickly taped up his forearms before running over to the master bedroom and looking around for clothes for Naruto. He managed to find a stash of them in a chest that had been next to Naruto's crib and dragged the piece of furniture into his room.

Once the chest was back besides the crib though, Katsuro rummages through it briefly before pulling out an outfit that reduced him to small giggles. In his hands is a little fox costume.

"Perfect." He snickers before closing the chest and heading into the kitchen.

There he finds his two clones going about their assigned duties. One sitting at the table leisurely, holding Naruto and a bottle while the little Tod gorges himself. The other meanwhile, frantically running around the kitchen trying to cook something for Katsuro's breakfast.

A little unsettled by the oddness of the contradicting clones, Katsuro goes over to the clone holding Naruto and asks for the baby so he can change him. The clone quickly handed Naruto over and Katsuro laid him onto the table.

Over the next five minutes, rather then changing Naruto, Katsuro instead found himself fighting the baby as Naruto kicks himself in and out of the fox costume. Grumbling under his breath the whole time, Katsuro tried to force the baby into the outfit but the harder he seemed to work at it the harder Naruto resisted. Finally however, with the help of his clone, he got the squirming Naruto into the outfit.

"Ha! Got you now." Katsuro said in triumph as Naruto just grinned up at him. Grinning back, Katsuro handed his clone the baby back to his clone as his second clone set food down on the table.

It was certainly not the best looking breakfast but toast and fried eggs were food and Katsuro was just hungry at that point. Wolfing the food down, he finished in record time before turning to the clones and taking Naruto.

"Dismissed." He commanded before the clones nodded and dispelled themselves. Alone with Naruto again, Katsuro fought with the energetic infant again to get him wrapped up in a blanket before leaving the Uzumaki house.

Taking to the roof tops, Katsuro held Naruto close to his chest as he headed for Konoha's Bank. The morning air was crisp and sharp in his lungs, but Katsuro didn't slow or he would be late getting to Yoshino's and that probably wouldn't go over well.

Seeing the Konoha Bank just over the tops of some shops in the business section of Konoha, Katsuro dropped down to street level and calmly walked towards the heavily guarded building.

The bank looked like any other bank one might find in the nations. It was a grand and impressive looking building that was as appealing to the eye as it was safe. Every part of the building was designed specifically to protect the large sums of Ryo within and if the building itself was enough protection then the 24 hour shinobi guard was.

Walking up to the building, Katsuro was pleased to see that the bank had only just opened and quickly stepped inside. Before him, a large room of polished marble was lined with teller stations. A pair of ropes outlined the waiting line and Katsuro could barely see the fleeting movements of the shinobi guard as they ghosted around the room.

Normally, Katsuro would try to follow the movement but he could see one of the tellers walking up to him so he figured it would be best to give her his attention.

"Good morning sir." The young woman said pleasantly as she batted her eyes at him.

The woman was definitely good looking girl. She had wavy brown hair that was kept long and styled to frame her face in a mature way and warm brown eyes. She wore a smart looking business suit that looked navy blue to Katsuro with a pencil skirt, a white lace undershirt, and heels that looked like they should have been classified as weapons rather then shoes. All-in-all, she was very good looking and Katsuro was fighting not to stare at her chest.

"Morning. I need to get a balance book for my account and talk to someone about inheritance." Katsuro quickly explained to the woman.

"I can help you then. Please follow me." The woman said as she led Katsuro over to one of the tellers desks, swinging her hips with every step. Mentally sighing at the girls flirting, intentional or not he wasn't sure, Katsuro followed at a distance until they were separated by the tellers desk.

"Now." The woman began as she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Katsuro." He answered before noting a sudden change in the woman. All of the sudden, the woman wasn't leaning forward slightly to talk to him but had begun to lean away from him. And the flirtatious glint that had been in her eyes was gone and replaced with shock.

"U-Uzumaki?" The woman asked as something flashed across her eyes. Suddenly see was staring down at the bundle in Katsuro's arms, and the teen had to resist the low growl he felt rising in his chest.

"Yes. Uzumaki. Uzumaki Katsuro." He ground out, watching as a dark fire began to build in the woman's eyes.

"I see." The woman said as her pretty face contorted into a more unpleasant spiteful one.

"Well I'm sorry sir but there is no account for an Uzumaki Katsuro. The only Uzumaki we have on file is Uzumaki Kushina but she's dead." The woman tried to play off before she was silenced by the increasingly heavy atmosphere that was surrounding Katsuro. He knew he was probably drawing the attention of the shinobi guards and they would attack if he gave them reason to, but luckily Katsuro was smart enough to not give them reason to.

"Bull shit." He growled softly, letting a little anger and killer intent leak out.

"I was here last night to withdraw money and had no problems. Now you're telling me my account has been closed?" He questioned as he leaned forward.

The woman gapped at him, a little shocked by his aggressive response while silently wondering why the shinobi guards hadn't stepped in yet. Unfortunately for her though, todays captain of the guard was a certain silver haired Anbu who had ordered his team to back off and instead informed the shift manager of the issue. And luckily for the teller, said manager had quickly arrived to the scene.

The woman was in her mid-forties and was just starting to showing her age. Brown and silver hair was pulled back into a loose bun with a few strands framing a round face. Her light brown eyes were clear and had a sharpness to them that Katsuro was used to seeing only in Shinobi.

"Is there an issue here?" The manager asked as she quickly walked up to Katsuro. Glaring at the new woman, Katsuro clenched his teeth before taking a breath to calm himself and back off of the teller.

"There seems to be. Your employee was just telling me that my account has been closed overnight without my knowledge." Katsuro hissed softly as the older woman glanced over at the teller. The young woman quickly bowed her head, to which the manager raised a brow before she turned her attention back to Katsuro.

"I'm very sorry about this sir. If you would allow me to, I will rectify this error now. Please follow me." The woman asked as she walked away to lead Katsuro to her office. Clutching Naruto closer to his chest, Katsuro slowly followed the woman to an office off to the side.

"Now, what is your name sir?" The woman asked as they stepped into her office.

"Uzumaki Katsuro." He answered. "I just wanted a balance book and to talk with someone about inheritance."

Nodding at the mans request, the bank manager quickly wrote his name down on a piece of paper.

"Please have a seat Uzumaki-san. I'll be right back with your balance book." The woman said as she quickly slipped back out of the office. Watching the woman go, Katsuro looked around the office and debated on sitting before Naruto decided to start squirming in his hold.

"Hey. Stop it." Katsuro ordered as he readjusted his hold on Naruto. The little Tod just stared up at him for a moment before he started looking around a little.

"Geez." Katsuro said before resting Naruto up on his chest in a more upright position so the baby could look over his shoulder. Bouncing his his feet a little, Katsuro looked around the office until he saw the woman returning.

"Here you are." She said as she passed Katsuro a balance book. Opening it, Katsuro checked the information inside and was grateful to see that he had a decent amount of money for now.

"Thank you." He said as he pocketed the book.

"Not a problem Uzumaki-san. Now you said you needed to talk to someone about inheritance?" The woman pointed out as she sat behind her desk.

"Yes. You see, this little Tod is actually my nephew. His parents died in the Kyuubi attack and I have take legal guardianship of him. I was wondering if anything was left to his by his parents." Katsuro explained as the woman began to think over his question.

"Hmm...Well, anything the parents would have had with us would be passed to next of kin, which is the child of course. However, he is underaged so there are two options at this point." The woman explained.

"The first option is for the bank just to hold onto the accounts until the child is legally recognized as an adult. The other option however, is for you to bring us the death certificates of the parents and the adoption papers. Doing this, the bank will then recognize you as the boy's guardian and thus you would have access to the accounts." The woman explained while Katsuro nodded slowly.

"I will probably have to do that then." He said softly to himself before returning his attention to the woman. "Thank you for the help. Have a good day."

The woman quickly stood and bowed.

"You as well Uzumaki-san. And again, we apologize for the problem earlier." The woman said as she bowed.

"It's fine." Katsuro said before leaving the office.

Walking down the walk way towards the door, he noted that people were looking at him oddly. Feeling defensive, he move Naruto from his shoulder to his chest where he felt he could be protect the boy. Luckily though, no one was stupid enough to try anything on him so he was able to leave the bank without incident.

Stepping out onto the street, Katsuro sighed as he collected a large amount of chakra to create two powerful clones.

"Go and get the paperwork the bank will need." Katsuro ordered to the first clone, who nodded and disappeared in the direction of the Hokage Tower. Katsuro then turned to the second clone and passed him his money bag.

"Clothes, food, and whatever else you can think we'll need." He ordered before the clone nodded and disappeared down the road to the shopping district. Watching the clone go, Katsuro quickly checked his time and cursed as he realized he was going to be late.

"Hang on little Tod It's about to get cold." Katsuro said to his nephew before taking off towards the Nara estate. He tucked Naruto into his chest and tried to use his arm to shield Naruto from the cold rushing air while racing to the outskirts of Konoha.

Trading rooftops for trees at one point, Katsuro knew he was close to the Nara estate so he dropped down to ground level. Jogging up to the Nara complex, Katsuro paused at the gates where he was met by two grumbling Nara's.

"Business?" One of the two muttered.

"Nara Yoshino is expecting me." Katsuro explained. The two Nara's looked at each other before motioning Katsuro to go ahead.

"Could you tell me which house is Yoshino-san's?" Katsuro asked as he passed through the gates with the two guards.

"Just keep following the main road to the end. It'll lead you straight to the clan head's household." One of the guards answered.

Quickly thanking the two, Katsuro started jogging down the road. Something that the present Nara all looked at him oddly for.

Arriving at the house the guardsmen had directed him to, Katsuro paused a moment at the gate. He reached his hand out, almost expecting to sense a barrier there and was a little shocked to find nothing there.

_I should talk to Shikaku about that. _Katsuro thought before opening the small gate and walking into the front garden. Looking over the building, Katsuro briefly wondered how many people lived in the multi-level house. Walking up to the front door, Katsuro knocked three times and checked Naruto against his chest.

The baby was asleep again in his arms and squirmed a little when the cold air hit his now exposed side. Chuckling at the baby, Katsuro ended up jumping when the door to the house suddenly flew open.

"Katsuro! Welcome!" Yoshino greeted as she moved an infant from one arm to the other. "Come in. How are you?"

"Tired. Like you said, Naruto kept me up all night." Katsuro complained as he stepped inside the house. Laughing at Katsuro's down hearted expression, Yoshino closed the door and motioned Katsuro to follow her down the hall to the main sitting room.

"Well, you better learn to suck it up. It's going to continue for a while." Yoshino laughed. "Babies won't sleep the whole night through for about a year."

Hearing such a thing from Yoshino suddenly reduced Katsuro to tears as the two sat down at the table.

"How does anyone survive the sleep deprivation?" Katsuro asked as he hung his head. Yoshino chuckled at that before her son began squirming in her arms. Changing arms, Yoshino began to gently bounce the baby until he settled down.

"Most people sleep when the baby does. No matter what time of day it is or for how long. If the baby is asleep, so are you." Yoshino explained. "It also helps at night to trade off on who takes care of the baby."

"That doesn't help me though." Katsuro muttered as he became pouty. "I'm the only one looking after Naruto at night. Well..."

Katsuro paused as he thought of this morning.

"Other then my clones." He said before pausing as his eyes suddenly bulged.

His clones! He could make physical clones who could take care of a baby as well as he could! And what's more, he could make an army of them (after all it took an army to raise a child right? Or was it a village? Whatever!)

"That's it isn't it?" Katsuro asked as Yoshino looked at him oddly.

"I have the shadow clones! It's perfect!" Katsuro shouted as he went to fist pump. He was halted however when both babies suddenly started crying. Panicking a little, Katsuro looked at Naruto and tried to check and see what was wrong.

"You can't yell around babies. It scares them and they cry." Yoshino said as she rocked her son and cooed softly to him. Watching her, Katsuro followed her example and was soon rocking and cooing at his nephew.

Ten minutes later, the two babies had calmed down and were squirming in the adults arms.

"I think they want to be put down." Yoshino explained as she grabbed a blanket and set Shikamaru down on it. She then turned to Katsuro and found him putting Naruto on the bare floor and quickly scooped the blond up.

"Don't just set him on the floor. Put him on a blanket first." Yoshino scolded lightly before looking around for Naruto's baby bag. Not seeing it though, she mentally face palmed as she realized that she forgot to tell him about them.

"Why does he have to lay on a blanket?" Katsuro asked as Yoshino put his nephew down next to the Nara baby. The two babies seemed to be completely engrossed with each other and kept staring at each other while using their arms to pat each other.

"Ah...How cute." Yoshino said as she watched the two before going into supermom mode.

"And you can't just lay them on the floor because the floor is dirty and they could get splinters." Yoshino explained before turning to Katsuro.

"Alright, time to start your baby lessons." Yoshino commands as Katsuro suddenly sits at attention, ready to learn the secrets of looking after a child.

"We'll start with a baby bag and its purpose before going onto proper diaper changing, bathing, changing, and how to play with a newborn." Yoshino listed off before picking up a doll.

"We'll use this since Shikamaru and Naruto seem to be getting along and separating them might start the crying again." Yoshino explained as Katsuro nodded. Preparing himself for a long day, Katsuro took out his notebook and listened intently to what Yoshino had to share.

* * *

Before either of the two new parents knew it, night had fallen and Shikaku came stumbling into the house. At first, Katsuro thought he was drunk but the lazy man soon proved otherwise as he dragged himself to the sitting room and collapsed next to the two sleeping babies.

"Welcome home dear. How was your day?" Yoshino asked as she got up to prepare dinner.

"Troublesome." Shikaku responded gruffly before opening an eyes and looking over at Katsuro.

"The Hokage has been looking for you Katsuro." The Nara said, shocking Katsuro.

"Really?" He asked, getting an affirmative nod from the older man. Sighing softly, Katsuro created a clone and went back to watching Naruto as it disappeared towards Konoha.

What he didn't realize however, was that Shikaku had been watching him and his eyes were widening.

"Katsuro..." Shikaku begins, his voice steady and quiet.

"Yeah?" Katsuro asks as he turns to the man.

"You are a genius." Shikaku says as his eyes begin to light up. A little off set by the sudden compliment and the odd look in the mans eyes, Katsuro slowly leans away as Shikaku picks himself up off the floor suddenly.

"I'm not following..." Katsuro laughs as he tries to move further from the encroaching Nara.

"A normal shinobi would have gotten up and gone to see what the Hokage needed you for right?" Shikaku asked, getting a slow nod from Katsuro.

"But you just sent a clone instead." Again, Katsuro nodded slowly.

"You can do the same thing for looking after the child. Instead of waking up every time it cries you can create a clone to get up instead." Shikaku explained as Katsuro felt a small beed of sweet roll down his cheek.

"I know. I just figured that out myself today." Katsuro explained as he scooted a little further away.

"Please teach me the shadow clone!" Shikaku suddenly asks as he takes Katsuro's hands, stars in his eyes. "If you do my precious sleep can go undisturbed and I won't fall asleep at work as much. Which means I won't get hit but my co-workers as much either."

Suddenly Yoshino appeared and hit her husband on the back of his head as a tic mark grew larger on her cheek.

"You idiot." She grumbled as Katsuro laughed nervously.

"I don't mind teaching it, as it is a technique my clan shared with Konoha long ago but I'm worried you won't have enough chakra for it Nara-san." Katsuro tried to explain.

"I know that." Shikaku quickly responded. "I'll get my chakra levels were they need to be, just teach me the technique."

Katsuro pauses a moment to consider that and just shrugs. Shikaku is a full grown adult, he wouldn't be reckless enough to kill himself by chakra exhaustion to create shadow clones.

"Alright." Katsuro agrees before seeing Shikaku sit attentively in front of him. He begins to explain the original purpose of the shadow clone and the various uses of it while Yoshino watches from the kitchen in slight amazement.

Her husband, the laziest man in Konoha, was training. If she wasn't one hundred percent sure that he was going to use the new technique to be even lazier in the future, she would have thought him a fake.

Laughing a little at her own joke, she goes back to cooking until she hears her husband ask Katsuro if he is okay. Worried, she rushes to the sitting room and finds Katsuro shaking his head.

"I'm fine. The clone just dispelled is all. I have an assessment of my skills in the morning." Katsuro explains before looking up at Yoshino.

"Would you mind watching Naruto. From what the Hokage said, it'll take a while and be dangerous." Katsuro explained.

"Of course!" Yoshino quickly agreed.

"It might actually be better if he just stayed overnight here." Shikaku suddenly added before getting an odd look from Katsuro.

"That way you can sleep properly tonight and be well rested for your assessment." The Nara leader explained. Suddenly seeing his point, Katsuro nodded and creates another clone to run home and pack an overnight bag as Yoshino had taught him.

As the clone disappears, Katsuro and Shikaku go back to discussing the technique while Yoshino finishes a quick dinner of rice, miso soup, fried fish, and stir fried vegetables. She then quickly prepares two bottles of formula and passes one to Katsuro once they were ready.

Katsuro and Yoshino then sat down to feed the children while Shikaku quickly set the table for dinner. Once the babies were fed and laid down to rest, the three adults sat down to eat. Katsuro thanked Yoshino for cooking for him as well and the group ate in relative silence until Katsuro's clone returned with the overnight bag.

After dinner, Katsuro cleans up the table while Shikaku and Yoshino take the babies up stairs to the nursery and waits for them to reappear before wishing then a goodnight and leaving.

Watching the red-head go from the doorway, Yoshino turned to her husband.

"So how many shadow clones can you make?" She asks, a little hopeful to get some rest after the very long day.

"Two at most. They require a lot of chakra." Shikaku responds with a small sigh while Yoshino nods once.

"Lets hope then that Shikamaru and Naruto will sleep and wake on the same cycle. Otherwise we'll be getting up twice as often." Yoshino pointed out before he husband groaned and leaned on her.

"Kami forbid." He whined as Yoshino laughed softly and put her hand on her husband's cheek.

* * *

**A/N- Read and Review please! I write so much faster after receiving feedback. Even if it's bad feedback, it still is feedback. Which means faster updates for you all.**


	4. Early Days 4

**A/N- Evening all! Here is an update for Rise of the Uzumaki Clan. This is the last of the infant phase and from here I will be moving into the academy days, as I feel there is some character development to be done there. So the next chapter will skip forward a few years. I hope you all look forward to it and enjoy this chapter!**

**P.s. I apologize for the shortness but there wasn't much more I felt I could add.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Just Uzumaki Katsuro and whatever other OC's may be added in somewhere.**

* * *

Unfortunately for the Nara's however, Naruto proved to be a very light sleeper and woke twice as often as Shikamaru. Although, that night Shikamaru woke just as often because his crib-mate would and so both Nara's found themselves sending prayers of sympathy to the gods for Katsuro and themselves.

By the time morning came around though, the two adults were completely exhausted and Naruto was again crying for attention.

"Kami. Not again!" Yoshino cried as she rolled over in the bed. Shikaku also cursed from under the pillows he had been hiding in before groaning as he lifted himself up.

"I got it." The head of the Nara Clan groaned before quickly leaning over to kiss Yoshino's temple. His wife muttered something from the pillows that Shikaku just assumed was along the lines of thank you before going silent again.

Getting up, Shikaku stumbled over to the nursery and quickly picked the fussy Naruto up and checked his diaper. Noting that it was wet, Shikaku quickly changed the baby before lulling him back to sleep.

At which point, Shikaku noted that if he crawled back into bed with his wife he might as well call into work sick. Which was something he couldn't do. Sighing at the injustice, Shikaku walk back into his room and be-lined straight to the shower.

Hearing the water start running Yoshino could only thank the gods that her husband was a great man despite his laziness. Quickly lulled to sleep by the sound of running water, Yoshino barely even recognized when her husband kissed her goodbye and left for , she slept for what felt like forever.

Finally though, her body began to demand that she get up. Something would twitch or itch and Yoshino wouldn't be able to just leave it. Sighing as she finally realized that she wasn't going to able to sleep anymore, Yoshino lifted herself up out of bed and checked her bedside clock.

Seeing that it was now around ten in the morning, Yoshino jumped out of bed and ran down the hall to the nursery. Being semi-used to Naruto's demanding nature, Yoshino couldn't help but think if the boys were quiet then something had obviously gone wrong.

Charging into the room, she was shocked to hear soft giggles and raced over to the crib. Inside the wide awake Naruto and Shikamaru seemed to be playing with each other by patting their wet slobbery hands on each other.

Seeing that both boys were alive and okay, Yoshino sighed softly before noting that the boys had gone quiet. Looking down, she saw that the boys were both watching her curiously.

"Hello my boys." Yoshino cooed before quickly grabbing her baby sling and tying it around her chest. She then let the crib bars down so she could pick Naruto and put him in the sling and readjusted it so it sat on her back.

"How about a bath?" Yoshino asked the children before getting happy sequels in response. Laughing at their antics, Yoshino quickly grabbed some clothes for the two boys and the bathing tub.

Twenty minutes later, Yoshino was changing into dry clothes before carrying the boys down to the kitchen. Making the boys a bottle of formula, Yoshino quickly fed the two before laying them down onto their blankets and returning to the kitchen to make something for herself.

Settling for just a bowl of cereal, Yoshino ate quickly while watching the two infants wiggle on their blanket. Watching Naruto kick around in the tiger outfit Katsuro had packed for him, Yoshino couldn't help but wonder how the elder Uzumaki was fairing.

Before she could further ponder Katsuro's challenge however, the door bell rang through out the house.

"Who could that be?" Yoshino wondered as she picked herself up and walked over to the front door. Pulling it open, she was shocked to find a very ragged Katsuro leaning against the door way.

At first it took Yoshino a second to recognize the boy, as he was dressed a little oddly. He wore a pair of long black pants, a pair of heavy duty boots, and a sleeveless shirt that seemed to have a makeshift hood sown onto it. A face mask collected around his neck and bunched a little while a dark green flak jacket was left open rather then zipped shut.

"M-Morning..."Katsuro said weekly as he offered a small smile.

"Katsuro! You look half dead. Come in." Yoshino quickly ordered as she moved to help the teen into the house. Thankful for the help, Katsuro leaned on Yoshino and let her lead him into the sitting room. Collapsing on the ground when he got there, Katsuro groaned softly before crawling over to Naruto.

"Hey there kiddo." Katsuro said softly to his happy nephew.

"What happened? You look like you got dragged to Kiri and back." Yoshino asked as she got something for Katsuro to eat and drink.

"To answer that, I'd have to tell you about my assessment." Katsuro said slowly before noticing that Yoshino was carrying food to him. Groaning, he pulled himself up to a sitting position and gladly took the food.

"Tell me." Yoshino demanded as she sat down to listen to how everything went. Sighing, Katsuro took a few bites before thinking back to the start of his assessment.

_-Flashback-_

_Kneeling at the front gate to area forty-four, Katsuro reread the scroll left for him and considered his options. His assessment was more a mission simulation with controlled variables, but that wouldn't make his task any easier. According the the scroll before him the scenario went like this. _

_Apparently, a large group of defectors had broken into the Hokage's home and stolen a scared scroll. This group then attempted to flee but the pursuit team had managed to pin them to area forty-four where the criminals had been holding out since. Now the Hokage wanted him to go in, find the group, retrieve the scroll, and report back to his office preferably without killing any of the defectors so the Torture and Interrogation Force could have them._

_Shuttering briefly at the idea of what would be in-store for a defector when the TI team got a hold of them, Katsuro quickly entered battle mode. Thinking the situation over, one could easily conclude that the defectors would be completely on the defensive after being hunted and pinned down. Which meant that where ever the group was hiding out would be heavily defended. Also, since the group had avoided capture until this point, they had to either be powerful or an effective team._

_Sighing softly and his own evaluation, Katsuro sat down on the ground and crossed his arms and began to prioritize what needed to be done._

Alright, step one: scout the area. Step two: Find the defectors. Step three: Find the scroll. Step four: reassess situation._ The Uzumaki thought before flashing through some hand signs and creating twenty clones. Once brought into existence, the clones all pulled their face masks and hoods up before disappearing into the forest to scout the area._

_With the clones now out to do step one, Katsuro crossed his arms back over his chest and began meditating. Truth was, he was a little worried about how this mission would go. When he had first left Konoha, he had known his limits. However, now that he had spent a year using his chakra restraints to their utmost limit he wasn't sure. _

_Trying to probe his chakra reserves and get and idea of his own stamina, Katsuro sat motionlessly for about twenty minutes before his eyes snapped open as the memories of a clone came to him._

_Cursing under his breath, Katsuro realized that this mission was going to be much harder now. Apparently that clone had been tracked by a team with an Inuzuka on it and had been holding them off when another team appeared with a Hyuuga. Which meant that not only could they track him by smell but also by sight._

_Sighing, Katsuro created ten more clones and had them transform into mice and birds before sending them off. He then began meditating again and was annoyed when more of his undisguised clones were dispelled._

_They're struggles weren't pointless however. With ever clone that was dispelled, Katsuro learned more about what he was up against and one clone had gotten lucky enough to hear the group discussing their plans._

_Apparently their were three three-men teams out to stop him. Two on patrol and one guarding the scroll at all times. Which meant that their was a base somewhere in the forest._

_Waiting patiently, Katsuro tried to come up with a plan on how he was going to do this when another clone dispelled with the best news yet. One of his disguised clones had not only found the last team but had come up with a plan to retrieve it. Grinning, Katsuro stood up and stretched out his limbs as he thought over everything his clones had shared with him._

_Thus far, he knew that area forty-four was a fenced in, circular area with a lot of stranger creatures in it. The area itself was probably about five or six miles across and someone had built a tower at its center._

_At first, his clone hadn't thought the tower was inhabited as it had looked completely empty but after taking a closer look one could actually see fine trip wires running across every entry way. A dead give away that someone was inside and wanted to know when something entered the building. The question then became how to enter the building unnoticed? _

_Well, Katsuro caught a real break on that one when his clone noted a small whole on the roof that a mouse could squeeze in. Transforming, the clone then entered the hole to see if it would lead him inside and was a little shocked to find himself scurrying along the riddled walls. And from one whole in the wall, Katsuro found the last group and the scroll. From there, a plan was formed. The same plan all his clones know knew and were following obediently if the sudden explosion about a mile west was any indicator._

_Chuckling at the classic diversion, Katsuro transformed himself into a hawk and took off to the sky. Beating his wings in a steady but strong pattern, he climbed quickly until he could easily look over the entire training area. A sea of green lay bellow him as only the tree canopy was visible to him. and A little annoyed by this, Katsuro summoned the image he had of the area before envisioning where the tower should be and took off in that direction._

_With the trees to hide him from his enemies bellow, and them being to busy fight off his clones, the flight was pretty smooth for the first time flyer. The whole feeling was exhilarating actually, but Katsuro was in battle mode at that point and didn't enjoy it as much as he might have. Instead, he was being task driven and set on seeing his new plan through._

_Thus, when he was sure he was over the tower, he dove into the trees and managed to cut through the canopy without much injury and while holding his transformation. He might have face planted into the ground however, if he hadn't caught himself just as he broke the canopy and swooped in to land on a low hanging tree branch where he could easily see the tower._

_Taking a few steadying breath, Katsuro scanned the tower and realized that nothing had seemed to have changed since his clone had staked the place out. The windows appeared empty and inviting but closer inspection had revealed them all to be trapped, with the exception of the front door. Katsuro however, knew that such a set up was made to herd him into a bigger trap they had waiting and luckily his clone had as well._

_Smirking mentally at such, Katsuro flew up to the roof and looked around for the hole his clone had spotted. Quickly finding it, he transformed again into a small mouse and slipped into the crack and thus the very walls of the tower. Scurrying inside, Katsuro followed the path his clone had marked our for him to a small hallway. Releasing his transformations, Katsuro kneeled down and listened to see if his presence was noticed._

_When no sign came that the extra team knew where he was, Katsuro quickly created four clones and transformed with them into mice. Nodding to each other, the mice quickly broke off into two groups. The first group, led by the real Katsuro ran back into the wall while the other rushed down the hall to a room._

_Following the joists of the building, Katsuro and the two other mice with him dropped down a floor and paused when they got to the same whole his previous clone had first spotted the last team. Slowly peeking his head out, Katsuro look down at the group and frown slightly._

_Sitting in a circle around the scroll in the middle of a large empty room were three Konoha-nin, two of which Katsuro recognized as Niju and Taru. Looking around for the last known member of their team, Katsuro was a little shocked to find that Anko was no where in sight. Instead there was a guy around his age who kept coughing and had two swords strapped to his back._

"_Heard anything new?" Niju asked his teammate as Taru suddenly sat up straight and stretched his back._

"_Nope. They're still chasing him around the whole forest." Taru answered before smirking. "He's one hell of a fighter though. Hasn't lost any of his old touch."_

"_And you know this how?" The third member asked before coughing. Taru's frown dropped and Katsuro took advantage of their distraction to scurry across the hole._

"_I've seen what he can do from his own point of view." Taru said softly, making Katsuro flinch slightly. He had forgotten about that day, probably because he didn't want to remember it. _

_A heavy silence fell over the group, one that's weight Katsuro could feel in the wall. He however, chose to ignore it and press on to complete his mission. Using the walls to drop down another level, Katsuro undid his henge and signaled his clones to start working._

_Like the floor above them, the floor he currently stood on was completely empty and wide open. A necessity to his current plan. Looking up at the ceiling, Katsuro let his senses show him where the other ninja were and pointed them out to his clones, who all began setting up the trap._

_Meanwhile: two floors up, two more Katsuro's were just finishing their preparations when one checked the time._

"_Five more minutes." The first clone said as the second nodded. Waiting patiently, the two slowly counted down until the appointed time._

"_Ready?" One asked the other when such a time did come._

"_As ever." The other responded before the two activated the seal at there feet. Suddenly, an explosive cracking sounded from under them and the two clones jumped just as the floor beneath their feet gave way and began falling onto the three shinobi directly bellow them._

_Knowing the element of surprise would only last them so long, one clone pushed off the remains of the floor/ceiling and propelled himself down with the debris. _

_The three Konoha-nin, temporarily immobilized by shock, managed to avoid their deaths however by jumping out of the way. Taru however, jumped in the wrong direction as after narrowly avoiding a large bolder, he came face to face with Katsuro. Trying to raise his guard, Taru found himself unable to dodge the palm that Katsuro smacked right against his forehead, placing a sleeping seal right between his eyes. The last thing the Yamanaka saw before passing out was Niju runing over with chakra cover hands._

_Letting Taru drop to the ground, Katsuro quickly turned to the charging Niju and was about to confront him when a katana suddenly sliced down on him. The pain was there for a moment before the clone dispelled and Hayate's eyes widened in shock as he felt something hit the back of his head. Hit with a sleeping seal as well, Hayate dropped to the ground as Niju went to strike the second Katsuro clone and end the battle. _

_It was unfortunate however, that as Niju went to take the last step needed to thrust his chakra bladed hand at Katsuro, the floor under him suddenly gave as an explosion from underneath them both took their footing. Caught off balance, Niju soon found himself falling with Katsuro right above him. The Uzumaki took hold of his jacket and in one quick motion, knocked him out with the last sleeping seal before jumping out of the rubbles way._

_Rock and dirt all crashed down onto the real Katsuro's level and he covered his eyes to protect them briefly and he squatted to minimize the surface area of his body that could be hit by rubble._

"_Everyone okay?" Katsuro called out to his clones, the scroll he had gone through all the trouble for under one arm. _

"_Good." One clone answered to his right, a passed out Taru over his shoulder. Soon another appeared and gave the thumbs up with Hayate on his back. A third dragged Niju over from where he had landed._

_He had known that the original distraction of have the ceiling cave on them wouldn't be enough for him to knock out all three of his opponents and he had been right. And just jumping out of a corner wasn't going to be enough to impress his judges or the Hokage. So, Katsuro had instead decided to take the riskier move and collapse the floor as well, which had been the extra surprise he had needed to get the last guard out of balance for him to finish him._

_Of course, that also brought a danger to the team so Katsuro had also made sure there were enough hims to catch his fellow shinobi, and the scroll, in their fall and move them out of the way of what would have been a very painful death. _

_Thanking the gods for helping him to complete this part of his mission without really hurting anyone, Katsuro ordered his clones to tie up the three unconscious shinobi._

"_Alright. Those explosions should have gotten the attention of the patrol groups." Katsuro pointed out to his clones as he pulled out four pieces of timber from the rubble._

"_Use the same distractions as before and transform these into the scroll." He ordered before each clone nodded and took a piece of wood. Doing as instructed, they transformed the wood into perfect look-alikes of the scroll and made slings to hold them in on their back._

_The four clones then jumped up to the floor the extra team had been waiting on before taking off down the pathway that led to the front door. Katsuro meanwhile, unzipped his jacket and exposed a giant seal on his stomach. It was a typical storage seal but much larger. Large enough to easily hold the scroll he had in his arms._

_Using the seal, Katsuro stored the scroll in his abdomen before transforming back into a mouse and using a hole in the wall to travel back up the tower to his original entrance. It was as he was getting ready to change again on the roof that his scouting clones hit their limit and dispelled at once, filling Katsuro suddenly with not only their memories but their exhaustion as well. _

_His transformation released itself and Katsuro collapsed on to the ground. Feeling his chakra at dangerously low levels, Katsuro released the last chakra restraints he had and instantly felt better as the last of his chakra filled his reserves. Picking himself up off the ground, Katsuro realized he had maybe tenth of his original chakra._

"_Damn." He cursed, realizing he still had the last four clones out there. Knowing there wasn't much time before he'd be too tired to complete the mission, Katsuro transformed into a hawk and took off._

_Taking to the sky, Katsuro pushed through the canopy and shot up into the open sky. Finding an air jet to cost in, Katsuro soared towards the village hidden in the leaves. Half way out of area forty-four, Katsuro felt one of his clones dispel and almost fell out of the air jet. He did manage to keep himself together however and was soon cruising over the walls of Konoha._

_Leaving the air jet, he rushed down to Konoha and easily picked out the Hokage tower from the other buildings. Flying straight up to the office window of the Hokage, Katsuro managed to land on the window seal and tapped the glass._

_Seeing the old man turn and notice him, he felt another clone dispel and almost fell over when the old man opened the window. Jumping inside, Katsuro ignored the old man's shocked cry and released his henge before falling onto the ground._

_Laying there for a moment, Katsuro tried to gather up his strength and opened an eye to see that the old Hokage was kneeling beside him with the Anbu guard right behind him. Lowering his face mask and hood, he saw the Anbu back off a little as they recognized him._

"_Mission complete...Hokage-sama." Katsuro said weakly before lifting his shirt and releasing the storage seal. The scroll then appeared over his abdomen and Hiruzen took it and checked the scroll. _

_Opening it up, the Hokage couldn't help but be impressed. The whole assessment had original been designed to test a Jōnin for the Anbu program and here Katsuro had succeeded, granted not by much if what the man could sense of Katsuro's chakra was all he had left in him. _

"_Good job Katsuro. Your assessment his complete. Please take the rest of the day to rest." The Hokage suggested before handing Katsuro a few soldier pills. Recognizing the pills, Katsuro quickly ate them and felt his chakra replenish a little._

"_Yes Hokage-sama." Katsuro said as he managed to pick himself up. Bowing slightly, Katsuro left through the window he had come and headed straight to the Nara complex._

_-End Flashback-_

Amazed at the story Katsuro had just told her, Yoshino picked her jaw up off the floor.

"Wow. That's amazing." Yoshino complimented before noting that Katsuro was yawning largely.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest now?" Yoshino advised. "I think Naruto is more a day sleeper anyways. You should get a good couple hours before he gets needy again."

Nodding at the suggestion, Katsuro picked Naruto up and wrapped him in his blanket while Yoshino grabbed his baby bag. Making sure his nephew was sufficiently wrapped, Katsuro watched Shikamaru for Yoshino and noticed that the little Nara was tearing up.

"Ah...Are you going to miss Naruto?" Katsuro asked the little Nara while playing with him with his finger. The baby briefly smiled up at him until Yoshino appeared with Naruto's bag.

"Here's everything. You should get going while you can still move." Yoshino advised. Chuckling at that, Katsuro slowly picked himself up. Yoshino meanwhile quickly swooped Shikamaru up and followed the Uzumaki's to the door.

"Thank you again Yoshino-san." Katsuro said gratefully. Yoshino just laughed it off and waved goodbye to the young man as he left.

Making his way home, Katsuro tried not to fall sleep on the side of the road and just barely made it back. Setting Naruto into his crib, Katsuro collapsed onto his bed and was in and out of consciousness for the rest of the day.

The following morning however, his peaceful sleep was disturbed when the alarm of his barrier went off. Which of course, set Naruto off.

Grumbling under his breath, Katsuro picked Naruto up and bounced him in his hold before checking the barrier. Standing just outside the barrier, was a random shinobi Katsuro didn't recognize. Walking over to the barrier, he reset the whole thing before raising a brow at the ninja.

"The Hokage has summoned you." The shinobi explained before disappearing. Sighing, Katsuro noted that he was still dressed from the day before and didn't even bother changing. Instead, he just took off towards the tower with Naruto.

Arriving at the tower a short while later, Katsuro stood before the Hokage and bowed.

"Lord Hokage." Katsuro said as he bowed with a giggling Naruto against his chest.

"Katsuro. After reviewing what happened in your assessment, I have come to the conclusion of ranking you as a mid-level Jōnin capable of doing high risk A-missions." The Hokage explained as he looked over Katsuro's new file. "And you will specialize in infiltration and assassinations."

Nodding at that, Katsuro awaited further instruction before being told the duties he was expected to preform day to day.

"All Jōnin come to my office between 8 and 10 am where they will receive their missions for the day. If not mission is assigned, you are free to do as you wish for the day unless a priority mission comes up." The Hokage explained. "And since today's assigning is done, you are free for the day."

"Thank you Lord Hokage." Katsuro said as he bowed. The old man smiled and nodded before motioning Katsuro closer.

"Can I hold him?" He asked. Smiling, Katsuro brought Naruto over to the Hokage and put him in his arms. At which point, Naruto woke from a brief nap and stared up at the grinning man.

"You look just like your father Naruto, but I get the feeling you're going to be like your mother in spirit." The Hokage chuckled, getting a small smile from Katsuro as well.

"He will be a strong shinobi." Katsuro said softly as Hiruzen nodded.

"Cherish these moments though Katsuro. Soon he'll be in the academy and then it's only a short amount of time before he's an adult." Hiruzen advised. "By which point, it'll be too late to just treat him like a child."

Taking the advise, Katsuro nodded his head before taking Naruto back from the old man.

"I'll do everything I can for him. I'll be the best uncle I can be to him." Katsuro promised seriously. Smiling at the teen before him, Hiruzen could only look forward to what the future had for Katsuro and his nephew.

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**A/N- Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and as usual, I beg you to review. Reviews are motivation after all. =D**


	5. Academy Days 1

**A/N- Dear god! It's been two months since my last update! I'm so sorry about that. I can't really give any excuses other then I had a bad case of writers block and found it hard to move past a few points in this chapter. In the end however, I am pleased with the outcome.**

**I hope everyone enjoys this. Please read and review for me!**

**Disclaimer- I don't own any of the original Naruto characters, but I do own the others.**

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It was another peaceful morning in Konohagakure. The village's trees were just starting to soak up the sun's early rays and all around the village the native animals were starting to stir.

Those humans who had reason to be up early were also starting to stir to prepare for whatever tasks had warranted their early rising. One man though woke at such an hour with a jolt, as he was sure he could hear crying.

Having been raising a baby boy on his own for a while now, Katsuro's ears were especially sensitive to the sound and immediately assumed something was wrong when he heard the noise. Looking around his small room, he tried to find the crib his young nephew would lay in and momentarily panicked when he realized that there was no such thing in his room. Bolting up into a sitting position, his instincts screamed at him to look for little Naruto while his tired body protested the movement at all. Luckily for the elder Uzumaki though, his brain finally did catch up to his instincts and reminded him that young Naruto was now four, going on five, and sleeping in the other spare room as per the boy's request.

Groaning at such, and realizing the crying had probably been his mind playing tricks on him, Katsuro collapsed back down onto the bed and laid an arm over his eyes.

His whole body ached lightly from his last mission, which he had only returned on the day before, and silently prayed that the Hokage would realize that placing Katsuro on a team for assassination missions was dangerous to whoever was placed with him. Especially when the Hokage's latest attempt to integrate Katsuro into a team had almost resulted in a failed mission and their capture.

It wasn't like Katsuro didn't want to be on a team, in fact being on a team might help him expand his social group and maybe get a girlfriend, but the types of missions Katsuro was sent on required the highest level of stealth and sublimity possible. Something that the powerhouse heavy village of Konoha didn't seem to have in spades outside the village Anbu. Which was probably why the Hokage had hinted at Katsuro to look at an application last night before dismissing him.

Katsuro however, was not interested in advancing his career yet. While Naruto was growing more independent and stronger everyday, he was still a child and unfortunately a majority of the village knew what he harbored and despised him for it. Luckily thus far nothing major had happened, as either he or Yoshino were always with Naruto, but Katsuro feared that if he began leaving Konoha more for missions, as he would need to if he was promoted to Anbu, then something would. And that was something Katsuro would not allow, not while he had the option at least. So becoming an Anbu was out of the question for now. At least until Katsuro was sure Naruto was strong enough to run to help before anything happened or just defend himself.

Nodding a single affirmation to himself, Katsuro slowly picked himself up out of bed and stretched his aching muscles before checking the clock. It was still early in the morning and Katsuro debated rolling back over to sleep some more when he recalled his promise to Naruto.

After returning last night, Katsuro had gone over to the Nara's estate to pick up his nephew and found the boy a little reluctant to leave. Apparently Yoshino had promised to take Naruto and Shikamaru to the park the following day to play with their best friend Choji and the little Tod was really looking forward to the day trip. So to keep his nephew happy, Katsuro swore to take Naruto to the park. Which of course made Naruto bounce back immediately and leave the estate with a loud proclamation to see Shikamaru later.

Now however, he was regretting such a choice as he would have to get up to get himself ready. But first, he would need to dress and make breakfast before packing a bag with juice packs, snacks, bandaids, a possible change of clothes, and whatever else he may need.

Sighing, Katsuro ran his hand over his face and yawned before walking over to the bathroom. Stepping into the first section of the room, Katsuro paused at the mirror and took in his appearance.

Now twenty years old, Katsuro couldn't help but see his father and uncle staring back at him in the mirror. Standing around six feet tall, he had long ago replaced all his baby fat with coiled muscle that pulled his skin taunt on every part of his body. Bright red hair had long ago grown out and came down to his mid back, it was usually tied back in a lazy pony tail while long bangs were parted down the middle of his head and hung down to his chin. Intelligent bright blue-green eyes stared back at him from the mirror while sitting on a narrow and angular face.

Along his body, he also saw a few of the various seals that were a permanent part of him. His chakra restraints for example, was a giant seal that centered on his chest and extended down his limbs to what looked like cuffs. Each of these cuffs represented a layer to the restraints and there were an equal number of rings on each of his wrists, ankles, and neck. With each limb now holding one ring each, his chakra was being split into fifths and truthfully should be split again as his readily usable chakra was at a Jōnin level again.

There were also the storage seals on the underside of his forearms which had again been modified recently to displace the weight of whatever was sealed inside. This modification had taken Katsuro a while to figure out, but now that he had he found the solution he found himself incredibly grateful for it. Now he could carry objects he normally couldn't without help and in his forearms rather then oversizes scrolls. Or at least, that was the current tested theory. Katsuro was quite sure that there was a correlation between the volume of the object being sealed and the size of the seal but he hadn't found the relationship. Yet.

Any other seal on his body was a temporary piece that was left over from his latest mission and would need to be removed at a later date.

Sighing as another thing was added to his todo list, Katsuro ran a hand over his face and paused when he felt the short strands of hair growing on his chin and lip. Recently he had been growing a short goatee but decided the facial hair was more of a pain to keep. So, this morning he would be shaving it off after going through the morning routine.

Turning on the water in the sink, Katsuro went about his morning routine of washing his face, brushing his teeth, and finally shaving.

Once clean shaven again, Katsuro dabbed a little aftershave onto his face before returning to his room. He then changed into pair of long dark grey pants, a dark blue wrap around shirt with the red spiral of the Uzumaki clan on his shoulder, and a brown sash to keep his shirt closed. Although, after taking in his appearance, Katsuro did loosen the shirt a bit to expose a little of his tone chest before brushing his hair out and tying it back in the usual low pony tail.

Now dressed and ready for the day Katsuro grabbed Naruto's old baby bag, which he know used as a day bag, and left his room to walk down the hall to the dinning room and kitchen. Going over the the fridge, he opened the cooled chest and began packing the day bag with whatever drinks and snacks he thought Naruto would need.

Once the bag was packed, he threw a couple ice packs inside the bag and started pulling ingredients out for breakfast. Another skill Katsuro had found improving slowly over time had been his cooking. He still wasn't as good as Yoshino but he could make something decent at least. His cooking was interrupted however, when a small voice called out for him from the door way.

"Kat-chan." The tiny voice called. Knowing it was Naruto, Katsuro smiled widely and turned to greet his nephew, the knife he was using to chop the vegetables held carefully over the board. His smile fell however when he saw his little nephew clutching his baby blanket, the small toad stuffed animal he normally slept with also in his arms, and tears in his eyes.

Recalling in some part of his panicked mind that he had woken to the sound of crying, he only just realized that it had been Naruto crying in the other room. And that realization made him want to bash his head into a wall. He didn't have time for that however, as Naruto obviously needed him now.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Katsuro asked as he put everything down and kneeled in front of his nephew. The boy hesitated a moment, a rare moment of shyness overcoming him.

"Are you my daddy Kat-chan?" The boy asked, shocking Katsuro. The man stared at the boy a moment with wide eyes before Naruto continued to explain.

"Shikamaru said that Yoshi-chan is his mommy and that Ku-chan is his daddy. And then he said I don't have a mommy or daddy." Naruto explained quickly, his childish face scrunched up in pain.

"What does he mean Kat-chan? Aren't you my daddy? Where's mommy?" The boy pleaded as Katsuro felt his chest tighten up.

Long ago he and Hiruzen had sat down to talk about how to handle this conversation when it had come up. The Hokage had pushed for Naruto being oblivious to his parentage until he was strong enough to fight off his parents enemies while Katsuro argued that Naruto had a right to know his parents. In the end, the two had just argued and put the decision off for a later date. But the later date never came and Katsuro had to make his choice now.

Sighing softly, Katsuro knew his answer and pulled Naruto into his chest.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I'm not your daddy. I'm you uncle, the brother of your mommy." Katsuro tried to explain as Naruto looked up at him pleadingly.

"Where are mommy and daddy then? Why aren't they here?" Naruto asked as Katsuro closed his eyes to stop the tears that he could feel building. Normally think of Kushina and Minato wouldn't affect him this way, but Naruto's anguish was pulling on his emotions.

"They passed away Naruto." Katsuro managed as he blocked out his own emotions.

"Passed away? What's that?" Naruto asked innocently. Katsuro sighed softly while trying to think of a simple way to explain death to the four year old.

"They died protecting you Naruto. They were taken to the sky and can't come back." Katsuro said softly, knowing this news would be hard on Naruto. The boy went quiet and Katsuro could see the sobs building up in the four year old's chest.

"They did love you very much though Naruto." Katsuro tried to explain as he felt Naruto clutch his shirt before coming up with a little lie to help the boy.

"You know, when your parents passed away they came to me in a dream." Katsuro began before hearing a sniffle come from his chest. "They told me they couldn't protect you anymore and that they wanted me to come protect you for them."

"So I did as they asked and came here to find you." Katsuro continued. "And from the moment I first held you, I knew they were watching carefully. I could feel them there with us, telling me to be careful with you and feeling the love they had for you surround us."

Naruto sniffled a little and pulled away from Katsuro while mashing his hands against his eyes.

"How you know they were there?" Naruto asked as Katsuro smiled softly.

"Because I could feel them here." Katsuro said as he placed his hand over his heart. Naruto looked at Katsuro oddly before putting his own little hand on his chest.

"Here?" Naruto asked softly, as if trying to figure out what his uncle meant.

"Yeah. In your heart." Katsuro confirmed before seeing a flash of anger on Naruto's face.

"Then why can't I feel them? Why did they leave? It's not fair!" Naruto demanded before he angrily squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists.

Shocked by such a display from the normally happy go lucky child, Katsuro reached out to hold Naruto when his nephew stepped away.

"Why did they leave?" Naruto asked weakly as his body shacked with silent sobs. Sighing softly through his nose, Katsuro felt the caretaker in him take a backseat to the shinobi.

"Naruto." He said sternly, shocking his nephew who had never heard him speak in such a tone. Looking up at his uncle Naruto was shocked to see the man all but glaring at him, his eyes a chilly blue.

"Your parents are shinobi who died, not only protecting you, but this village as well. If not for them, many people in this village would be dead." He said seriously, trying to convey the true nature of his parents deaths to Naruto.

"And they aren't the only ones. There are a dozen or more children like you, who lost their parents as you did. Even me. I lost my entire family to war and yes it was painful." Katsuro said, his facial expression changing to a pained one briefly before getting serious again.

"But Naruto, our family is a shinobi family. Death is our constant companion because we are shinobi. There is no why someone passes, there is only the fact that they are gone and knowing that at any moment you could be joining them in the afterlife." Katsuro explained as if he were talking to a fellow shinobi rather then his five year old nephew. Which wasn't good of course, as the last bit Katsuro had revealed to his nephew about the family business had told the five year old that he could die at any moment.

"You could die being a ninja?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide with fear. Seeing the boy's fear, Katsuro's caretaker resumed control and he began to mentally panic again.

"Y-yes." Katsuro stuttered as he tried to regain proper control of his mouth. "That is why ninja train so hard. So we can be stronger and outwit death to earn the right to come home to our friends and families."

With that, a heavy silence fell over the two. For Katsuro it was an awkward silence, as he had told his five year old nephew more about the shinobi world then he should have. For Naruto the silence was heavy, as he considered everything he had learned. For a few minutes the two remained that way, each lost in his own thoughts of what had just been discussed. Finally, as if breaking the sheet of ice that had fallen over the room, Naruto stepped forward and wrapped his small arms as far around Katsuro's chest as they would go.

"Don't go Kat-chan." The four-year old pleaded as he buried his face in his uncles chest. "Don't be a shinobi anymore."

Caught off guard for a moment by Naruto's plea, Katsuro couldn't help but feel just a little privileged at that moment as Naruto obviously cared for him and didn't want him to be in danger. His honor and sense of duty however would not allow him to comply to the young boys wishes.

"I can't do that Naruto." Katsuro said as he wrapped his arms around the boy.

"Why not?" The boy asked. Katsuro opened his mouth to answer that but found himself unable to explain it. So, he decided to show him instead.

"I'll show you." Katsuro said before Naruto looked up at him. Offering a small smile, Katsuro gently ruffled the boy's hair before picking him up. He carried Naruto to the door, where he briefly put on his shoes, before setting outside and using his chakra to climb the tallest tree he could find.

From their perch, Katsuro and Naruto could see the majority of Konoha as well as its people. With the sun slowly making its way over the horizon, the view was breath taking for the young jinchuuriki. Trying to look at everything at once Naruto's blue eyes widened, earning a small chuckled from Katsuro.

"We fight for this Naruto." Katsuro said softly, sweeping an arm out to indicate the village. "This peace that hangs over the village and the happiness it brings."

As he listened to his uncle, Naruto watched the people of his village go about their daily lives. He tried to imagine what his uncle was talking about but just couldn't, after all he wasn't a child of war like many older children. And Katsuro could understand that.

"Naruto. You may not have parents with you like other children, a mother to make you breakfast or a father to play with you, but that does not mean that they're not good parents. Yours died for this peace, so you could live in it and be safe." Katsuro explained before getting a confused look from Naruto.

"Its alright if you don't understand it now Naruto. One day you will." He chuckled as he ruffled Naruto's hair again before jumping out of the tree.

The small boy clung to his uncle tightly and screamed as they descended from the tree but Katsuro had planned this drop carefully and used his chakra to slow their fall. Landing safely, he laughed at Naruto a bit as the boy pouted at him for the fright. Setting him down, Katsuro told Naruto to dress for the day now or they'd be late going to the park.

Naruto hesitated a moment, a painful look on his face, before he nodded and ran inside to get ready for the day. Watching him go, Katsuro wondered what Naruto might have been like if Kushina and Minato hadn't died that night.

"Enough." He growled. It didn't do anyone any good thinking of such things. The only good that he could do now was finish breakfast and lift up Naruto's down casted spirit.

* * *

Breakfast had been long and tense at first, but Katsuro quickly rectified that after promising ramen for lunch. Apparently the hot noodle dish was Naruto's absolute favorite, something Katsuro had laughed at when he wondered if Kushina had given Naruto her love for it by eating it throughout her pregnancy, and if the boy had his way he would eat it morning noon and night. Luckily though, Katsuro was there to insure such didn't happen and the boy got regular meals.

Thus, getting ramen had sort of become Katsuro's way of bribing his nephew and lifting his mood when normal means didn't work. And as before, today's promise of ramen had done just the trick and instantly lifted the blond Tod's spirit. Enough to the point that Naruto was practically dragging Katsuro out the door so they could get to the park.

Leisurely following his nephew into the park, Katsuro gave Naruto his permission to run off when they saw Shikamaru and Choji waving at them while slowly making his way over to the clan heir's mothers.

"Good afternoon Yoshino-san. Chiharu-san. May I join you?" Katsuro asked politely as he bowed to each woman in turn. The two mothers smiled kindly at the young man before them and waved his greeting off with a light blush before telling him to sit beside them on the park table.

"My Katsuro, you sure do have the charm on high today." Chiharu noted before her eyes quickly took in his appearance. "And with such a formal looking outfit I might have thought you had an important appointment to attend to today."

Laughing lightly at Chiharu's assessment of his manners and dress, Katsuro gently put his bag under the table where it would be safe from thieves.

"I do in fact have an important meeting today." He said with a gentleman-like smile.

"And what would that be?" Yoshino asked in mock curiosity, playing into his act.

"Why, to come and chat with you lovely ladies of course." Katsuro flattered, getting a hearty laugh and a playful punch from the two.

"If that is the most important thing in your day, your not getting out enough." Chiharu laughed before setting a cup of tea down in front of each of them.

Laughing lightly at Chiharu's verbal jab at his lack of social life, Katsuro quickly turned his attention to the park when a young scream rang out. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary however, and easily picking out Naruto and his friends, the three at the table quickly relaxed. Returning his attention to the two woman before him, Katsuro listened as Yoshino ask Chiharu how her mother-in-law was doing and found himself thinking back to his conversation with Naruto earlier that morning.

In the end, Katsuro hadn't given away the identity of the boy's parents or exactly how they had died. Actually, all he had done was tell the boy some dark truths about the kind of work their family did and probably half scared the boy by telling him he could die at any point. But he still didn't think Naruto was ready for the truth, not even the falsified truth that was being taught at the academy. Because the honest truth was that Minato, Naruto's own father, had sealed a very powerful demon within the, at the time, baby Naruto after he and Kushina had been impaled by said demon's claw and left him all alone in the world. That is, until he had heard of the attack and ran back to Konoha after being told he was basically the last Uzumaki.

Yeah, that was not something a four-year old should be burdened with. That was not something anyone should be burdened with. The loss of his parents alone was hard enough to take but adding in the demon only made things worst, especially when one considered how the village acted around the young boy.

And almost as if to prove his point, Katsuro watched at that moment as many young mothers called their children away to tell them to avoid Katsuro's young charge.

"Katsuro!" Yoshino yelled in his ear, getting the red-head to jump as he suddenly became aware of the two women's presences beside him.

"Sorry." He quickly apologized before noticing the concerned look on the women's faces.

"What's wrong Katsuro. You've been zoning out for a while now." Yoshino asked, having seen the pain hidden in Katsuro's changing eyes.

Realizing he could not lie to the women before him, Katsuro gave in and sighed heavily as the weight of the coming conversation came crashing down on his shoulders.

"Naruto asked about his parents this morning." Katsuro explained as he stared into his tea cup. He didn't have to look up to know both women were shocked by this and now silently communicating on what to do.

"What did you tell him?" Chiharu asked, her voice tense.

"Ultimately?" Katsuro asked with a strained chuckle, "Not much. Just that they died to protect our village and love him."

The two women exchanged a look before relaxing.

"You handled it well Katsuro." Chiharu said as she took a drink from her tea. "Its too early for him to know the truth."

"I shouldn't have had to handle it." Katsuro said darkly, his mood quickly turning sour as he let his true thoughts come out.

"It shouldn't have come to this. Minato and Kushina should be here for Naruto." He growled lightly. "Because you know what, a hero's memorial and a fictionalized version of their demise aren't enough to make up for the tears of a four year old boy."

By the time Katsuro finished his little rant, he was shaking lightly with suppressed rage.

The two mothers beside him drank slowly and calmly from their cups. Truthfully, they both agreed with him and just like him they both knew that there was nothing they could do. The past was done, and nothing could be done about it now.

After a moment, Katsuro slowly released the tension along his body before sighing.

"I'm sorry. I lost control of my emotions." Katsuro apologized quickly as he took back control of his emotions.

"It's understandable." Yoshino began. "Anyone else who has children would feel the same. It just goes to show how much you truly care about Naruto."

The three sat there silently, trying to enjoy the day despite the bad taste the previous conversation had left in their mouthes. The silence didn't last long however as Naruto came barreling up to them.

"Kat-chan!" The four year old called as he ran over. Jumping at the sudden shout, Katsuro quickly turned to his nephew.

"Yes Naruto. What is it?" He asked as Naruto came skidding to a halt.

"I wanna protect the peace." Naruto began, making Katsuro pause in shock.

"R-really?" Katsuro asked, shocked by the boys sudden turn around. Nodding furiously, Naruto smiled.

"Me, Shika, and Cho are gonna protect the village!" Naruto proclaimed excitedly. "And to do that, we gotta be shinobi. Can I be a shinobi?"

"O-of course." Katsuro said, a little shocked by how much the boy had turned around since this morning.

Watching the boy cheer over the chance to be a ninja, Katsuro watched the group of youths with confusion. He was sure Naruto hadn't made this decision on his own, that somehow the other two boys had encouraged Naruto to make this choice and he wasn't sure how he should feel about such. Still, the decision was made and now Katsuro had to make good on it.

"Katsuro, Naruto's birthday is October tenth right?" Chiharu asked, even if she already did know that answer.

"Yes. Why?" Katsuro asked, finding her need to ask odd.

"Well, Naruto applies for early enrollment at the academy. You could get him signed up to attend this year with Shikamaru and Choji." Chiharu explained.

"Really?!" Naruto shouted, loving the idea of going through classes with his best friends.

"If Katsuro can get the paperwork in time." Yoshino pointed out as she got a thoughtful look. "And I think the paperwork is due by tomorrow."

"Exactly." Katsuro said cheerfully to his excited cousin. "I'll make sure you get into the academy and turn you paper work by tomor..."

Katsuro suddenly trailed off as he realized exactly what Yoshino had said.

"What! Tomorrow!" Katsuro demanded as he spun on the Nara matriarch. Yoshino offered a small apologetic look.

"I've got Naruto if you need to go." Yoshino offered before Katsuro jumped to his feet.

"Naruto, be good for Yoshino while I run to the academy." Katsuro explained quickly as he took hold of Naruto's shoulders and kissed the boy on the forehead. "I'll meet you at Ichiraku later."

Not bothering to wait for the boy's response, Katsuro took off with a chakra enhanced jump and took to the roof tops towards the Ninja Academy.

Rushing by, he was sure he would make it to the academy in record time when he suddenly saw a fellow shinobi accidentally jump in his way. Already in midair, and traveling as fast as he could, he and the shinobi were in for a head on head collision if one of them didn't do something quickly. Briefly panicking, Katsuro's instincts and years of experience quickly took over as he quickly created two clones and activated one of the left over seals from his last mission.

"Fūinjutsu: Sanhō Fūin." The clones called out as they made a triangle with their arms. The seal appeared over their arms and Katsuro took hold of them before pulling himself into them in a crouching position. He didn't stay that way for long however, as the seal literally launched him up into the air with a powerful blast of chakra. Soaring over the other ninja, Katsuro quickly apologized to them before landing on his feet a good thirty feet away and taking off again.

More aware of his surroundings, Katsuro made sure not to run into a similar situation as he raced to the academy and found himself at its gates minutes later. Pausing at a tree just outside the gate, he took a moment to get his breathing under control before calming making his way inside. The building was mostly empty, with only one man sitting at the front desk who was probably enjoying the silence of the empty school for once.

Walking up, Katsuro noticed the man sitting up properly as Katsuro stepped in front of his desk. The man was probably in his late teens and had a newly issued flak jacket, meaning he was a recently promoted chunin. His wild brown hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail while dark brown eyes steadily watched Katsuro approach. Dressed in a very standard shinobi outfit, the man could have easily blended into any crowd if it wasn't for the long scar running over the bridge of his nose.

"Can I help you?" The man asked, his voice and demeanor hard.

"Yes, I need to the paperwork for enrollment." Katsuro explained as he noted someone enter the main room from a side door just on the edge of his peripheral vision.

"I'm sorry sir. Enrollment for this year has already closed. You will have to wait for next year." The man behind the desk said with a scowl on his face.

Knowing he was being lied to, Katsuro narrowed his eyes and was about to lash out at the man when someone beat him to it by smacking the man over the back of the head.

"Idiot." A higher pitched voice barked as both males turned to inspect the new arrival who had assaulted the deskman. Recognizing her instantly, Katsuro couldn't help but feel his eyes widen suddenly as he took in Anko's full form.

The girl who had once saved his life long ago was now fully grown and dare he say it? Quite beautiful actually. In a sort of tomboyish/vicious way. Still, Katsuro would think himself an idiot to not notice how much six years had changed the woman.

She had long ago abandoned the body suit for a fitted fishnet suit and a dull orange skirt. A tan trench with a purple inlay hung from her shoulders and was left open for easy access to the weapons on her hips and leg. Katsuro also briefly noted a pair of shin and foot guards before he was drawn back into the current conversation.

"I told you last night they extended the date by a day." Anko chided at the man now rubbing his head.

"Sorry Anko. I forgot." The man all but whined as he rubbed his head.

"Whatever. Just do your job and get him the papers Iruka." The woman sighed as she headed for the door. Seeing that she was about to leave, Katsuro reached out for Anko.

"Wait Mitarashi-san. I want to..." He was cut off however when Anko sudden reeled on him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, ripping it open in the process.

"I didn't give you my name. How do you know it?" The woman snarled as she pressed a kunai to Katsuro's now exposed chest. Flabbergasted by her reaction, Katsuro tried not to let his jaw hang out by her reaction and failed slightly as he gave her the most confused look he had ever given.

"You gave me your name when you were told to assist me years ago." Katsuro explained before noticing that Anko didn't seem to have a spark of recognition at what he was saying. Rather, her eyes showed frustration and sadness in their honey colored gaze.

"Don't you remember?" Katsuro asked, feeling the kunai slowly pull away from his chest.

"In the last war, my team and I were carrying vital information to Konoha and were ambushed by Kumo-nin. We fought them off and I was the only survivor." Katsuro explained as Anko let go of his shirt and glared at a spot on the wall, as if it would somehow solve the dilemma the woman seemed to be facing.

"I would have died from my wounds though if you hadn't shown up right when you did and take me to your base for medical attention."

"So I saved your life and you learned my name then?" Anko filled in as Katsuro nodded slowly, wondering how the woman couldn't remember.

After all, she had also carried him to Konoha from the eastern base and then was ordered to show him around Konoha when he woke. It wasn't something he figured was easily forgotten and his ego was struck a little by the fact that it was.

The two stared at each other briefly, each trying to read the other before Anko gave a small huff and turned away. Katsuro watched her go, trying to call out to her again but unable to actually speak until she finally passed through the door and was gone.

Sighing at the missed chance, Katsuro rubbed his neck before hearing the man named Iruka clear his throat. Turning to face the desk, Katsuro mentally growled when he saw the hard look the man was giving him as he stood over the desk he had been sitting at a moment ago.

"What is your connection to Anko?" The man demanded, his eyes flashing for a moment.

Feeling threatened on an instinctual level, Katsuro resisted giving a small growl and instead walked over to the desk. He didn't bother to fix his now fully open shirt, letting the tautness of his chest and a bit of his killer instinct show the boy that he was not someone to mess with.

"That is none of your business." Katsuro hissed, his eyes flashing dangerously for a moment. The two glared angrily at each other before Katsuro broke the heated contest.

"Can I have the registration forms now? I need to fill them out as quickly as possible if i'm going to have them back by tomorrow." He asked, holding a hand out for the papers he would need.

Iruka glared at him a moment longer before standing up straight and passing Katsuro the papers he would need. Taking the papers, Katsuro quickly looked through them and gave a tight thanks before heading for the door.

"Stay away from Anko. She finally just excepted that she's lost her past, she doesn't need it rearing its head back at her again." Iruka called to Katsuro. Stopping at the door, Katsuro glared over his shoulder at the man before walking out of the school without responding back.

Standing outside, Katsuro drew a slow breath before pocketing the papers and fixing his shirt. As he did so, he couldn't help but think of the previous conversation. Based on what the man named Iruka had said, and Anko's own demeanor towards him, there was more going on then what met the eye. And it was infuriating him to know that something was up and not be in on it.

Deciding to take things into his own hands and get answers his own way, Katsuro created a clone and handed it Naruto's admission paper. After all, filling in a bunch of blanks was easy work and could be handled by a clone. Katsuro himself had something he had to do himself.

Splitting up with his clone, Katsuro rushed to the Hokage's tower to get the answers he wanted. Running over the roofs, he made sure to watch his surroundings this time and was shocked when he sensed someones ill intent and dodged three snakes as they were launched where he had just been.

Growling under his breath, Katsuro went to prepare himself for battle when a chain appeared around his waist. Cursing under his breath, he would have countered the attack if suddenly he wasn't being dragged down to the ground by the same chain that held him.

Katsuro did manage however, to safely land on his feet and summon two kunai as he did so. Trying to find the source of the attack, Katsuro was shocked by a low chuckle.

"Good to see that I least saved a decent Shinobi." Anko sneered as she leaned against the ally wall to Katsuro's left.

"Why did you attack me?" Katsuro demanded as he took a proper stance. He did not however, put away his Kunai as he glared at the woman before him. Anko gave him a devilish smirk and started to slowly walk over to him.

"You said I saved your life, but based on your reaction earlier there seems to be more going on then I initially thought. So I figured I'd ask you." Anko explained as she circled around Katsuro. Sighing at that, the red-head sealed his kunai in his forearms and regarded Anko carefully.

"There isn't much going on outside of what I already told you." Katsuro explained. "You saved my life and I never really got to repay you for that."

"So you want to do so now? After all these years?" Anko asked skeptically.

Katsuro sighed softly at that, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I owe you a lot." Katsuro started. "Not just in my life but others as well."

"Others?" Anko asked, raising a brow in curiosity.

"If you hadn't saved me that day, my nephew would be alone right now." Katsuro admitted. "It's hard enough without his parents around but if he was an orphan his life could have been so much worst. I owe you for that too."

Anko stood there and stared at the man before her in slight shock. During the war, and after it, she had saved just about as many lives as she had destroyed and not once had she ever expected it to come back around to her. Not when half of Konoha hated her for what Orochimaru had done.

"Do whatever you want. Just don't expect a lot from me." Anko sighed as she went to walk away.

"Anko." Katsuro called out, getting the woman to stop and turn back to him with a curious glance. "What happened to make you loose your memories?"

Anko's eyes narrowed at that and she turned to face him fully.

"What makes you think I lost my memories. Maybe your just not memorable." She countered before frowning at Katsuro's sheepish grin.

"Your boyfriend back there told me not to come around you. That your past didn't need to come rearing its head anymore." Katsuro supplied. "Implying that you didn't have a past to rear its head before."

Ignoring the whole boyfriend jab, another silence fell over the two before finally Anko sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her bangs.

"My sensei betrayed Konoha and erased all my memories before leaving. I don't remember anything. Even saving your life." Anko supplied before turning away from Katsuro, not wanting to see his reaction.

"I see." Katsuro said slowly. "I guess I'll just have to start over then."

Shocked by this, Anko turned and gave Katsuro a questioning look as the red-head smirked at her.

"Start over?" Anko started before Katsuro cut her off.

"As friends." He explained, chuckling a little at Anko's hesitation.

"My boyfriend won't like that." Anko pointed out before noting Katsuro's smirk growing wider.

"Im not worried about a newly promoted Chunin." Katsuro laughed. "Not when the Hokage himself wants me to hurry up and sign up for the Anbu."

That seemed to shock Anko as she stood before him, her mouth hanging open.

"Aren't you ballsy." Anko pointed out before Katsuro smirked.

"That's not ballsy. Asking you out for a drink is ballsy." Katsuro pointed out before grinning mischievously. "So how about it? I'll buy."

Anko paused a moment, debating on taking the offer before shaking her head with a smirk.

"You're gonna regret making that offer..." Anko paused as she realized she hadn't gotten his name.

"Uzumaki. Uzumaki Katsuro. And I doubt i'll regret it." Katsuro supplied as he did a quick bow. Chuckling at his antics, Anko started walking ahead.

"You will when I make you go broke Katsuro-chan." Anko called over her shoulder. Running after her, Katsuro matched Anko's pace.

"So is that a yes?" He asked.

"Maybe another time. It's a little early for drinks." Anko replied before using a shunshin and disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Staring at the spot the woman had previously been, Katsuro sighed softly before turning to head home. He might as well do what he said he was going to.

* * *

**A/N- Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed and I will try to update within the next seven days. Reviews will help move that along though.**


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